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THE    CHARACTER 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON, 


AS    EXHIBITED    IN 


HIS  OWN  WRITINGS 


BY   THEODORE    DWIGHT. 


(    UNIVERSITY 


BOSTON: 
WEEKS,    JORDAN    &    COMPANY, 

No.  131  Washington  Street. 

1839. 


$> 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1839,  by 

WEEKS,  JORDAN  A.  COMPANY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts, 


SPfiECKELS 


HARDEN  &  KIMBALL,  PRINTERS, 

No.  3  School  Street. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

Introductory  remarks — Different  opinions  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  char- 
acter--His  Correspondence  left  for  publication — Causesjjf 
Federalists'  opposition  to  Mr.  Jefferson — Mr.  Jefferson  longju — x 
public  employment — .Was  opposed  to  the  Constitution^Corres- 
pondence  on  that  subject^STEachment  to  Revolutionary  France 
— Report  on  Commerce — Madison's  Resolutions — Intended  to 
turn  the  trade  of  the  United  States  from  Great  Britain  to  France 
— The  sentiments  of  Federalists  justified  by  events — Mr.  Jeffer 
son's  confidence  in  Bonaparte — Change  in  his  feelings  in  1814. 


CHAPTER    II. 

The  Federalists  opposed  to  Mr.  Jefferson  because  he  used  the  gov- 
ernment  patronage  to  promote  his  own  and  his  party's  interests 
— Case  of  the  removal  of  the  New  Haven  collector — Letter  to 
the  New  Haven  merchants — Collector  not  removed  for  want  of 
integrity,  capacity  or  fidelity — Attempt  to  fix  the  charge  of  polit 
ical  intolerance  upon  Mr.  Adams — If  it  lay  against  any  person, 
it  was  Gen.  Washington — Doors  of  honor,  &c.,  burst  open  by 
Mr.  Jefferson's  election — Origin  of  ihe  doctrine  that  a  change 
of  admimstntion  involves  the  principle  of  a  change  of  subor 
dinate  officers — His  election  considered  by  him  as  a  revolution  V' 
— All  executive  officers  viewed  by  him  as  executive  agents — 
Proved  by  a  letter  to  J.  Munroe. 

CHAPTER     III. 

/  Federalists  opposed  to  Mr.  Jefferson  because  of  his  kn*6wh  oppo-l    ' 
sition  to  an  independent  Judiciary — Letter  to  Ritchie,  December 
25,  1820— To  Melish,  January  1813— To  Nicholas,  December, 
1813— To  Barry,  July,  1822— Importance  of  Judicial  Indepen- 


101712 


v.  CONTENTS. 

dence  —  Language  used  by  Mr.  Jefferson  on  the  subject  —  His 
opposition  to  Courts  manifested  in  the  prosecution  of  Burr  —  Re 
view  of  Burr's  alleged  conspiracy,  and  the  proceedings  of  the 
government  in  relation  to  it  —  More  attempted  lo  be  made  of  it 
than  the  facts  would  warrant  —  Nothing  said  about  it  by  the  Ex 
ecutive,  after  the  Message  at  the  opening  of  the  session,  until 
January  22  —  Article  published  on  tho  same  subject  in  the  Rich 
mond  Enquirer  —  Burr's  arrest  and  trial  —  Correspondence  relat 
ing  to  the  trial—  Attack  upon  Judge  Marshall's  character  —  Mr. 
Jefferson  objects  in  this  affair  political  —  Charges  the  Federalists 
with  favoring  Burr  —  Correspondence  on  the  subject  —  Hostility 
to  Judge  Marshall  on  the  ground  of  Burr's  acquittal. 

CHAPTER     IV. 

J  Federalists,  opposed  Mr.  Jefferson  on  the  ground  of  his  unsound 
1  and  dangerous  opinions  respecting  the  constitution  —  Correspon 
dence  with  Mrs.  Adams  —  Friendship  for  Mr.  Adams—  Paying 
Callendar  —  His  acquaintance  with  Callendar  —  Discharge  of  per 
sons  convicted  under  the  sedition  law,  because  he  conceived  the 
law  a  nullity  —  His  sentiments  respecting  the  power  of  the  execu 
tive  to  decide  on  the  constitutionality  of  laws.  The  executive 
and  judicial  powers  equal  in  this  case  —  The  sincerity  of  Mr.  Jef 
ferson's  professions  of  friendship  for  Mr.  Adams  —  Publication 
of  Paine's  Rights  of  Man—  Mr.  Jefferson's  letter  to  general 
Washington  in  relation  to  \\.. 


CHAPTER     V. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  opinion  that  one  generation  of  men  cannot  bind 
another,  individually  or  collectively,  to  the  fulfilment  of  obliga-* 
tions  —  Letter  to  James  Madison  on  the  subject,  dated  Septem--^ 
ber,  1789  —  to  doctor  Gem  —  to  J.  W.  Eppes  —  to  J.  Cartwright, 
dated  June,  1824  —  Examination  of  his  principle  —  Mr.  Jefferson 
a  mere  partizan  in  politics  —  Letter  to  F.  Hopkinson,  March, 
1789  —  Correspondence  respecting  the  operations  of  the  federal 
government,  IV^jLTJU-^prigin  of  the  Ana  —  Monarchy  —  Con-  ;A 
troversy  of  those  days  between  the  advocates  of  kingly  and  re-  K 
publican  government. 


CONTENTS.  V, 

CHAPTER     VI. 

Annapolis  Convention,  1786 — Difference  of  opinion  in  that  body 
between  a  republican  or  kingly  government — Account  of  that 
Convention  from  Pitkin's  History — From  the  Life  of  Jay — At 
tempts  of  the  friends  of  a  kingly  government,  at  the  Convention, 
to  prevent  the  formation  of  a  republican  government,  for  the 
purpose  of  introducing  a  monarchy — The  charge  shown  by  facts 
to  be  unfounded — Only  five  of  the  thirteen  States  represented — 
His  knowledge  of  the  Convention  derived  from  hearsay — No 
proof  of  it  has  ever  been  adduced — The  same  charge  made 
against  the  same  party  at  the  Convention  which  framed  the 
Constitution  in  1787 — The  Ana  utterly  unworthy  of  credit — Mr. 
Jefferson's  enmity  against  A.  Hamilton,  its  origin  and  its  object 
— The  charge  of  monarchical  principles  intended  to  promote 
his  own  interests. 

CHAPTER    VII. 

Mr.  Jefferson  had  no  regard  for  the  constitution  if  it  stood  in  the 
way"o;TKis" Interests — Treaty-making  power — Opposed  to  Mr. 
Jay's  treafy  with  Great  Britain — Attempts  to  prevent  its  ratifi 
cation — Doctrine  advanced  by  him  regarding  the  power  of  the 
representatives  over  treaties — Letters  to  Monroe  and  Madison — 
Gallatin's  and  Madison's  opinions — Livingston's  resolution  in 
the  House  of  Representatives — Arguments  used  on  both  sides 
in  debate — Resolution  adopted  by  House  of  Representatives- — 
,*Mr.  Jefferson's  sentiments  opposed  to  the  constitution,  of  which 
she  seemed  to  be  sensible — His  sentiments  contradicted  in  the 
case  of  the  treaty  with  France,  in  1831 ;  but  urged  against  that 
treaty  by  members  of  the  French  legislature — Livingston  at  this 
time  minister  at  Paris,  and  obliged  to  act  in  opposition  to  the 
sentiments  avowed  by  him  on  Mr.  Jay's  treaty. 


CHAPTER     VIII. 

Mr.  Jefferson  a  secret  enemy  of  general  Washington — Ambitious  of  y 
being  considered  as  the  greatest  political  character  of  his  country  I 
— Willing  to  concede  to  Washington  pre-eminence  as  a  military  I 
officer,  but  not  as  a  statesman — Formed  a  French  party  soon  1 
after  his  return  from  France— Accused  the  federalists  of  British  \ 


VI.  CONTENTS. 

partialities — Aristocratic  and  monarchical  propensities — Procla 
mation  of  neutrality — Strongly  opposed  by  the  French  party 

Extracts  from  newspapers  concerning  it — Attacks  upon  the 

C  executive  as  the  enemy  of  France — Philip  Freneau  and  the 
National  Gazette — Conversation  between  general  Washington 
and  Mr.  Jefferson  respecting  that  paper — His  enmity  to  Wash 
ington  more  manifest  after  the  Whisky  insurrection  broke  out 
— President's  speech  to  congress,  November,  1794 — Allusion  to 
democratic  societies  as  the  sources  of  it — Mr.  Jefferson's  opin- 
of  insurrections,  November,  1787 — Sentiments  respecting 
the]  Whisky  insurrection — Democratic  societies  and  the  Cincin 
nati — Judge  Marshall's  account  of  the  insurrection,  and  its  sup 
pression — Letter  to  Mazzei — to  James  Madison — Effects  of 
general  Washington's  popularity — John  Jay's  corruption — Let 
ter  to  Aaron  Burr  respecting  Washington  ! 

CHAPTER    IX. 

Mr.  Jefferson  afraid  to  attack  general  Washington's  character 
openly— Letter  to  W.  Jones,  January,  1814,  a  specimen  of  his 
insidiousness — Great  body  of  republicans  think  of  Washington 
as  he  does — His  belief  that  we  should  eventually  come  to  some 
thing  like  the  British  constitution  had  some  weight  in  his  adopt 
ing  levees,  &c. — Pains  taken  by  the  federalists  to  make  him 
view  Jefferson  as  a  theorist,  &c. — Jefferson  never  saw  Wash 
ington  after  the  former  left  the  state  department,  otherwise  these 
impressions  would  have  been  dissipated — Letter  from  Jefferson 
to  M.  Van  Buren,  June,  1824 — Notice  of  charges  in  a  work 
published  by  T.  Pickering — Letter  to  Mazzei — Not  a  word  in 
that  letter  that  would  not  be  approved  by  every  republican  in 
the  United  States — Not  a  word  in  that  letter  about  France— By 
forms  of  British  government  was  meant  levees,  &c. — Subject  of 
ceremonies  at  Washington's  second  election  referred  to  heads  of 
departments — Jefferson  and  Hamilton  thought  there  was  too 
much  ceremony — The  phrase,  "  Samsons  in  the  field,"  meant  the 
society  of  the  Cincinnati — Jefferson  says  general  Washington 
knew  this — Never  had  any  reason  to  believe  that  general  Wash 
ington's  feelings  towards  him  ever  changed — Washington  a  sin- 
•cere  friend  to  the  republican  principle — Knew  Jefferson's  suspi- 


CONTENTS.  Vll. 

cions  of  Hamilton — After  the  retirement  of  his  first  cabinet,  gene 
ral  Washington  fell  into  federal  hands — Remarks  on  this  letter. 

CHAPTER    X. 

The  society  of  Cincinnati  could  not  have  been  meant  by  the  phrase 
"  Samsons  in  the  field  " — The  language  of  the  Mazzei  letter,  as 
published  in  Jefferson's  Works,  absurd — Jefferson's  last  parting 
with  general  Washington — The  time  of  his  death,  as  stated  in 
the  letter  to  Van  Buren  not  true — Federalists,  pretending  to  be 
Washington's  friends,  did  what  they  could  to  sink  his  character 
— The  measures  of  his  second  administration  not  imputable  to 
him,  but  to  his  counselors — Not  approved  by  the  republicans — 
Answers  of  the  houses  to  his  speech  when  about  to  retire,  op 
posed  by  Giles — Judge  Marshall's  account  of  the  feelings  of  the 
republican  party  upon  the  ratification  of  the  British  treaty — 
Letters  to  Melish,  W.  Jones,  and  John  Adams — Jefferson  says 
general  Washington  was  not  a  federalist — No  truth  in  the  asser 
tion  that  Washington  was  not  a  federalist — Letter  to  Jay,  May, 
1796 — Letter  to  Jefferson,  July,  1796 — No  correspondence  after 
this  letter  appears  on  Washington's  books  with  Jefferson — Let 
ter  to  La  Fayette,  December,  1798 — to  Timothy  Pickering,  Jan 
uary,  1799— To  P.  Henry,  January,  1799— Letters  to  H.  Lee— 
[Bache's  and  Freneau's  papers,  and  western  insurrection] — Let 
ter  to  J.  Jay — Washington  not  a  republican  in  the  sense  of  Jef 
ferson — Washington  a  federalist — Letter  to  B.  Washington, 
May,  1799 — Jefferson's  letters  intended  for  history. 

CHAPTER    XI. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  last  parting  with  general  Washington  at  Mr 
Adams's  inauguration,  March,  1797 — Washington's  faculties 
impaired — He  had  become  alienated  from  Jefferson — general 
Washington's  powers  of  mind  never  stronger  than  at  the  period 
alluded  to — The  origin,  character,  and  object  of  Jefferson's  Ana 
— Persons  employed  in  collecting  materials  for  the  work — Story 
of  Sir  I.  Temple,  Hamilton,  King  and  Smith — Story  of  governor 
Clinton  and  a  militia  general — Conversation  between  Langdon 
and  Cabot,  reported  by  Lear — Story  from  Baldwin  and  Skinner 
— Jefferson's  account  of  the  convention  of  1787 — Account  not 


Vlll.  CONTENTS. 

entitled  to  credit — The  constitution  made  by  federalists — Op 
posed  by  Jefferson's  republicans — The  account  of  both  conven 
tions  untrue — Not  a  delegate  from  the  eastern  states  at  Annapo 
lis — Assumption  state  debts  part  of  a  system  of  corruption — 
Scheme  Hamilton's,  Washington  ignorant  of  the  plan — Hamil 
ton  a  monarchist — Conversation  at  Jefferson's  dinner  table — 
Conversation  in  August,  1791,  between  Jefferson  and  Hamilton 
about  the  constitution — Hamilton's  opinion  of  it — Practice  of 
noting  down  private  conversations  insidious — Such  evidence  un 
worthy  of  credit — Conversation  between  Jefferson  and  Wash 
ington,  October,  1792 — Jefferson  informed  Washington  that 
Hamilton  was  a  monarchist — Character  of  Hamilton  by  judge 
Marshall — Washington's  letter,  accepting  Hamilton's  resigna 
tion. 

CHAPTER     XII. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  policy  to  render  the  federalists  unpopular  by  stig 
matizing  them  as  monarchists — In  his  letter  to  Mazzei  he  char 
ges  general  Washington  with  being  a  monarchist — John  Adams 
originally  a  republican — Essex  federalists — No  proof  adduced 
to  support  the  charge — Truth  to  be  ascertained  by  the  measures 
of  the  government  while  under  their  control — Jjyiiciary — Pay 
ment  of  the  national  debt — Hamilton's  funding  system  adopted 
— National  bank — Opposed  by  the  republicans — Its  constitution 
ality  established  by  the  supreme  court  and  acknowledged  by 
congress— Not  monarchical — The  true  ground  of  opposition  its 
being  owned  and  managed  by  federalists — Establishment  of  V 
navy — Its  necessity  and  utility  universally  admitted — Mr.  Jef 
ferson's  opposition  to  the  British  treaty  and  wish  to  screen  Ge 
net,  evidence  of  his  attachment  to  France — Jefferson  discovered 
nothing  monarchical  in  the  federalists  until  after  his  party  was 
formed — Letter  to  Carmichael,  March,  1791 — Sentiments  in  the 
na  in  1818 — His  greatest  apprehension  of  monarchy  arose 
from  the  levees,  &c. — All  ground  of  fear  had  been  removed  be 
fore  his  Ana  were  written. 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

•The  federalists  had  no  confidence  in  Mr.  Jefferson  as  a  politician 


,  CONTENTS.  IX. 

— His  election  a  revolution — To  ascertain  the  nature  of  that 
revolution  his  messages  to  congress  must  be  examined — No  act 
alluded  to  in  his  messages  to  congress  as  having  a  monarchical 
tendency — No  original  national  measures  recommended  by  him 
but  gun-boats  and  dry  docks — Letter  to'Nicholson  on  gun-boats — 
Committee  under  Madison  on  gun-boats — Secretary  of  navy's  re 
port  to  that  committee — Correspondence  between  general  Wash 
ington  and  Nicholas,  &c.,  respecting  John  Langhorne. 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  feelings  on  his  return  from  France  in  1789 — Found 
here  a  preference  for  kingly  government  prevalent — Mr.  Jef 
ferson  an  ambitious  man — Called  himself  a  republican  and  his 
opponents  monarchists — Monarchy  talked  of  at  dinner  parties — 
Attacks  upon  Hamilton — Asserts  that  Hamilton  introduced  a 
draft  of  a  constitution  to  the  convention  for  a  monarchy — Letter 
from  Hamilton  to  T.  Pickering  on  his  proposition  for  a  constitu 
tion—No  monarchical  feature  in  it — The  charge  of  monarchical 
principles  in  the  federalists  traced  by  Jefferson  to  the  conven 
tions  of  1786  and  1787 — Jud.ge^ Marshall's  notice  of  the  conven 
tion  of  1787 — Names  of  some  of  the  principal  members  of  that 
body — Mr.  Jefferson's  artful  manner  of  establishing  his  claim 
to  a  republican  character — Letter  to  R.  M.  Johnson — Conversa 
tion  with  general  Washington — Character  of  the  early  federal 
ists — Great  courage  necessary  to  attempt  the  destruction  of  gea- 
eral  Washington's  character. 

CHAPTER    XV. 

Alien  and  sedition  laws — Eeasons  for  passing  the  alien  law — Copy 
of  the  act — Zealously  opposed  by  Mr.  Jefferson — His  opinion  of 
it  as  expressed  in  his  letters — Urges  Pendleton  to  write  against 
it — Copy  of  parts  of  the  sedition  law — His  opinion  of  it  as  ex 
pressed  in  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Adams— Petitions  to  congress  for  the 
repeal  of  the  laws — Report  of  committee  in  the  house  of  repre 
sentatives — Letter  to  Madison,  February,  1799,  giving  an  ac 
count  of  the  proceedings  in  the  house  on  the  report — Law  re 
specting  alien  enemies— Still  in  force— Extract  from  Tucker's 
Life  of  Jefferson — His  object  in  opposing  the  law  to  court  popu- 


X.  CONTENTS. 

larity,  and  render  the  federalists  unpopular — Letter  from  gener 
al  Washington  to  Spotswood,  on  the  alien  and  sedition  laws — 
Letter  toB.  Washington — Prosecutions  under  the  sedition  law — 
Persons  convicted  pardoned  by  Jefferson — Prosecutions  in  Con 
necticut — Case  of  Rev.  Dr.  Backus — Letter  from  Jefferson  to 
W.  C.  Nicholas,  professing  ignorance  of  these  cases — Facts  to 
show  that  he  was  acquainted  with  them. 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

The  Federalists  believed  Mr.  Jefferson  insincere  and  hypocritical — 
Professed  great  friendship  for  John  Adams  in  a  letter  to  Mrs. 
Adams,  in  1804 — In  a  letter  to  general  Washington,  in  1791,  he 
charges  Mr.  Adams  with  apostacy  to  monarchy — The  friendly 
intercourse  between  them  not  interrupted  by  this  apostacy,  but 
\  by  Mr.  Adams's  appointments  to  office  at  the  close  of  his  admin- 
'  istration—  Apparent  that  Jefferson  had,  upon  coming  into  the 
secretary  of  state's  office,  laid  his  plan  to  place  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  government — Hamilton,  being  a  more  formidable  ob 
stacle  to  his  ambition  than  Adams,  became  the  object  of  peculiar 
animosity — Correspondence  between  general  Washington  and 
Jefferson  and  Hamilton,  in  August,  1792,  respecting  dissensions 
in  the  cabinet — Washington's  letter  to  Jefferson — Letter  to  Ham 
ilton — Mr.  Jefferson's  answer,  September,  1792 — Reasons  for  em 
ploying  Freneau — Objections  to  the  constitution,  that  it  wanted  a 
bill  of  rights,  &c.— Says  Hamilton's  objection  was,  that  it  wanted 
a  king  and  house  of  lords — Hamilton  made  great  exertions  in  the 
formation  and  adoption  of  the  constitution — Jefferson  did  nothing 
— Hamilton's  answer  to  Washington's  letter,  August,  1792 — 
Washington's  confidence  in  Hamilton  never  shaken  by  Jeffer 
son's  attempts  to  that  end — Jefferson  never  appealed  to  the  coun 
try,  as  suggested  in  his  letter. 

CHAPTER   XVII. 

Mr.  Jefferson  made  use  of  unworthy  means  to  gain  popularity — 
Alleges  that  he  had  more  confidence  in  the  people  than  general 
Washington  had  j  which  was  the  only  point  on  which  they  dif 
fered — He  assumed  the  title  of  "  Friend  of  the  People  " — Dress- 


CONTENTS.  XI. 


ed  plainly — affected  unassuming  manners — prnfpssed  nev^r  to  rrj  . 
have !  wrilt£a.a>-UTorxLfojL  newspapers — He  jjrged  others  to  write  J^ 
— In  one  instance  he  wrote  himself,  but  proposed  to  procure     ' 
somebody  to  father  it — Tells  Madison  he  must  take  up  his  pen 
in  reply  to  Hamilton — Letter  to  E .  Pendleton,  Jan.  1799,  urges 
him  to  write  on  the  negociation  with  France — Letter  to  Madison,^ 
and  calls  upon  him  to  write — The  federalists  viewed  JeffersonJ 
as  an  unbeliever  in  Christianity — Letter  to  Dr.  Priestly,  Marehjr 
1804 — Letter  to  Dr.  Rush,  April,  1803 — estimate  of  the  merits  ~*~ 
of  the  doctrines  of  Jesus,  compared  w^ith  the  others — Letter  to  J. 
Adams,  August,  1813— Letter  to  W.  Short,  April,   1820— Jef-  7 
ferson  a  materialist ;  Jesus  on  the  side  of  spiritualism — Paul  the  / 
first  corrupter  of  the  doctrines  of  Jesus — Letter  to  Short,  Aug. 
1820 — The  God  of  the  Jews  cruel,  vindictive,  capricious,  and 
unjust — Letter  to  J.  Adams,  April,  1823 — The  three  first  verses  I 
/of  John,  1st  chapter,  mistranslated — Jefferson  not  a  Christian — *^| 
^doubtful  whether  he  believed  in  a  God — His  translation  of  John    | 
/1st  absurd — Recapitulation  of  the  subjects  in  the  work — Conciu- 
\  siori. 


EBRATA.  —  On  page  64,  line  20,  read,  least  color;  65,  5th  line 
bottom,  judic&  ;  77,  2d  line  from  bottom,  insert  instead  of 
after  the  word  that  ;  95,  line  5,  read,  fifty  years  ;  103,  line  5,  read 
tire  called  ;  106,  first  line,  read  address  ;  116,  2d  line  from  bottom 
and  on  pages  187,  and  193,  read  Bache's  paper ;  117  and  121,  read 
gulped ;  ]s2 1,  2d  line  from  bottom,  read  changed ;  123,  4th  line 
from  bottom}\read  1795  ;  and  on  pages  125,  144,  158,  read  Mazzei  ; 
305,  line  10  frota  bottom,  read  Tapping  Reeve  ;  308,  line  18  from 
top,  read  David  M.  Randolph.  ^ 


CHARACTER  OF  JEFFERSON 


CHAPTER    I. 

Introductory  remarks  —  Different  opinions  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  char 
acter  —  His  Correspondence  left  for  publication  —  Causes  of  the 
Federalists'  opposition  to  Mr.  Jefferson  —  Mr.  Jefferson  long  in 
public  employment  —Was  opposed  to  the  Constitute  n  —  Corres 
pondence  on  that  subject  —  Attachment  to  revolutionary  France 

—  Report  on  Commerce  —  Madison's  Resolutions  —  Intended  to 
turn  the  trade  of  the  United  States  from  Great  Britain  to  France 

—  The  sentiments  of  Federalits  justified  by  events—  Mr.  Jeffer 
son's  confidence  in  Bonaparte  —  Change  in  his  feelings  in 


NEARLY  forty  years  have  elapsed  since  the  first  election 
of  Thomas  Jefferson  to  the  office  of  president  of  the  Uni 
ted  States.  That  event  was  then  considered  by  him,  and 
is  still  claimed  by  his  partizans,  to  have  been  a  revolution 
in  the  political  condition  of  this  country  scarcely  if  at  all 
inferior  in  importance  to  that  which  severed  the  United 
States  from  their  allegiance  to  the  government  of  Great 
Britain.  There  ought  to  be  a  good  foundation  on  which 
to  rest  such  a  claim  as  this.  If  it  had  been  advanced  ori 
ginally  for  the  mere  purpose  of  promoting  the  views  and 
interests  of  a  political  party,  it  might  be  suffered  to  pass 
out  of  remembrance  with  many  other  things  of  a  some 
what  similar  character  that  are  now  nearly  forgotten.  But 


14  THE   CHARACTER  OF 

a  new  generation  of  men  have  grown  up  since  the  period 
above  alluded  to,  who  know  very  little  of  the  characters, 
principles  or  services  of  those  who  formed  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States,  or  of  the  policy  which  was  adopted 
and  pursued  by  the  men  who  organized  the  government, 
and,  for  the  first  twelve  years  of  its  existence,  influenced 
and  directed  its  operations.  Mr.  Jefferson  and  his  friends 
claim  the  merit,  of  having  accomplished  "  the  revolution  of 
1801  "  with  as  much  confidence  as  if  such  an  event  had 
actually  been  achieved,  and  had  been  brought  about  by  their 
own  personal  exertions.  Federalists  and  federalism  are 
used  by  them  as  terms  of  reproach,  applicable,  in  their 
opinion,  to  a  large  number  of  men  and  a  series  of  meas 
ures  which,  it  would  seem  from  their  language,  deserve 
nothing  short  of  unqualified  reprobation.  Without  trou 
bling  themselves  to  examine  the  characters  of  the  persons 
alluded  to,  or  to  discuss  and  understand  the  nature  and 
tendency  of  their  system  of  measures,  they  arrive  at  their 
object  by  a  much  shorter  and  easier  route.  In  order 
to  avoid  the  trouble  of  examination,  they  content  them 
selves  with  stigmatizing  both  with  opprobrious  names 
which  stupidity  itself  can  learn  to  repeat,  and  which,  when 
once  got  by  heart,  answer  all  the  purposes  that  their  artful 
inventors  had  in  view  when  they  introduced  them  to  pub 
lic  use.  And  although  the  federalists,  as  a  political  party, 
have  long  ceased  to  act,  or  even  to  exist,  such  has  been  the 
effect  of  this  peculiar  kind  of  political  machinery,  and  the 
despotic  influence  of  party  spirit,  that  the  term  has  been 
and  is  still  relied  upon,  by  every  modification  of  the  par 
ty  which  has  held  the  power  of  the  general  government, 
for  nearly  forty  years  past — from  March,  1801,  to  the 
present  time — as  the  source  of  their  own  popularity  and 
the  maintenance  of  their  supremacy  and  power  over  the 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  15 

affairs  of  the  nation.  A  political  engine  which,  under 
such  a  variety  of  circumstances,  and  in  the  hands  of  so 
many  different  individuals,  could  be  safely  relied  upon  for 
such  important  consequences,  must  have  been  the  device 
of  no  ordinary  mind ;  and  when  it  is  added  that  it  origi 
nated  with  Mr.  Jefferson,  those  who  are  well  acquainted 
with  his  character  will  cease  to  wonder  ;  and  those  who 
are  not,  may  gain  some  insight  into  it  from  the  following 
pages. 

It  is  very  doubtful  whether,  in  the  whole  extent  of  polit 
ical  history,  a  more  singular  and  extraordinary  personage 
can  be  found  than  Thomas  Jefferson.  Flattered,  admired, 
and  extolled  by  his  partizans,  as  the  greatest  of  statesmen 
and  patriots  —  viewed  by  his  opponents  as  an  artful  and 
dangerous  intriguer,  visionary  in  his  notions,  unsound  in 
his  principles,^selfish  in  his  feelings  and  opinions,  and 
ambitious  in  his  views  and  projects  —  no  person  can  be 
surprised  to  hear  that  the  sentiments  entertained  of  his 
principles  and  character,  by  the  parties  which  then  prevail 
ed  in  the  country,  were  widely  and  essentially  different 
from  each  other.  The  federalists  formed  their  estimate  of 
both  from  the  facts  which  fell  under  their  observation  while 
he  was  engaged  in  the  active  concerns  of  the  government, 
and  from  evidence  which  they  occasionally  derived  from 
other  sources.  His  immediate  friends  took  much  for  grant 
ed  in  forming  their  opinions  of  his  merit.  They  gave  him 
full  credit  for  the  services  he  had  rendered  during  the  rev 
olutionary  struggle,  particularly  as  the  author  of  the  de 
claration  of  independence.  On  the  strength  of  these  ser 
vices,  without  understanding  precisely  their  nature,  extent 
or  importance,  they  claimed  much  in  favor  of  his  talents 
and  patriotism ;  and,  as  he  was  as  necessary  to  their  in-  i 
terests  as  they  were  to  the  success  of  his  ambitious  pro- 


16  THE   CHARACTER  OF 

jects,  they  required  but  little  positive  proof  of  what  they 
might  expect  from  his  future  services  and  influence.  In 
such  a  state  of  things,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  his 
opponents  should  become,  in  the  warm  conflicts  of  politi 
cal  parties,  objects  of  the  greatest  animosity  to  his  devoted 
friends  and  admirers. 

It  so  happened  that  Mr.  Jefferson,  at  his  death,  left  be 
hind  him  very  voluminous  collections  of  letters,  addressed 
to  his  multiplied  correspondents,  and  other  written  docu 
ments,  which,  since  his  death,  have  been  published  to  the 
world  by  his  grandson,  to  whose  care  they  were  confided. 
It  is  to  be  presumed  they  were  selected,  prepared  and  ar 
ranged  by  himself,  and  that  his  representative  had  nothing 
to  do  but  to  place  them,  according  to  that  arrangement,  be 
fore  the  public.  The  internal  evidence  in  favor  of  this 
supposition  is  very  strong.  But  whether  the  fact  was  so, 
or  they  were  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  editor,  is  of  no 
importance  in  the  view  which  will  here  be  taken  of  their 
contents.  Their  authenticity  is  neither  denied  nor  doubt 
ed  ;  and  it  is,  therefore,  of  no  moment  to  the  world  at  large 
by  whose  agency  they  were  placed  before  them.  In  this 
work,  so  far  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  accomplishment 
of  the  object  which  the  author  has  in  view,  they  will  be 
freely  scanned ;  and  the  main  purpose  of  the  writer  will 
be  to  show,  that  the  estimate  which  the  federalists  formed 
of  his  principles  and  character,  political,  moral  and  reli 
gious,  was  not  merely  justifiable  but  strictly  correct  —  that 
his  works  show  that  all  and  more  than  all  they  said  of  him 
was  true. 

\        Mr.  Jefferson  spent  a  large  part  of  a  very  long  life  in 

\   public  employment.     In  the  course  of  his  political  career, 

1  he  held  many  important  offices,  and  among  them  that  of 

chief  magistrate  of  the  United  States.     Previously  to  the 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  17 

commencement  of  the  French  revolution,  he  was  appoint 
ed  to  the  office  of  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  United 
States  to  the  court  of  France,  where  he  remained  until  the 
year  1789,  when  he  returned  to  this  country,  and  from 
general  Washington  received  the  appointment  of  secretary 
of  state  under  the  newly  formed  national  government. 
Before  that  time,  he  had  been  generally  considered  as  a 
man  of  learning  and  talents,  thoroughly  versed  in  the  po 
litical  affairs  of  the  nation,  and  sincerely  devoted  to  its 
welfare  and  prosperity.  There  was,  moreover,  an  extra 
ordinary  degree  of  popularity  attached  to  his  name,  from 
the  circumstance  that  he  was  chairman  of  the  committee 
who  reported  the  declaration  of  independence  ;  and  it  was 
understood  that  he  was  the  principal  draftsman  of  that  fa 
mous  document.  Before  the  formation  of  the  present  fed-, 
eral  government,  political  parties,  like  those  which  have 
since  divided  and  distracted  the  country,  were  unknown. 
Local  views  and  interests  operated  upon  the  minds  of  men 
in  various  cases,  and  gave  rise  to  differences  of  opinion 
upon  different  subjects ;  but  the  Union  had  never  before 
been  divided  into  two  great  political  parties,  as  it  was 
very  shortly  after  the  new  government  was  formed  and 
organized.  This  division,  however,  took  place  very  soon 
after  its  organization,  and  the  names  of  federalists  and  an 
ti-federalists  soon  came  into  common  use.  But  as  the  lat 
ter  term  indicated  opposition  to  the  constitution,  Mr.  Jef 
ferson,  with  an  adroitness  that  marked  all  his  movements 
as  the  head  of  a  party,  soon  devised  the  more  captivating 
title  of  republican  for  his  adherents  to  adopt  as  their  watch 
word  and  countersign.  This  new  designation  was  well 
conceived  for  the  purpose  which  he  had  in  view  when  he 
threw  it  out  as  a  bait  for  his  followers.  It  held  out  the 
idea  of  a  sincere  and  devoted  regard  for  the  general  polit- 
2* 


18  THE   CHARACTER  OF 

ical  feeling  and  sentiment  of  the  country,  and,  by  implica 
tion  at  least,  charged  those  to  whose  principles  and  meas 
ures  he  was  opposed,  with  the  heinous  offence  of  aristo 
cratic  or  monarchical  predilections  and  propensities.  This, 
it  will  be  perceived,  was  an  ingenious  mode  of  securing 
popularity  to  himself,  and  at  the  same  time  of  rendering 
his  opponents  suspected  and  odious.  And  it  answered  all 
the  purposes  which  its  author  had  in  view — it  established 
him,  in  popular  opinion  at  least,  as  the  friend,  the  "  man  of 
the  people ;  "  and  in  the  end  it  destroyed  the  political  in 
fluence  and  credit  of  those  who  framed  and  supported  the 
constitution  and  government.  Its  more  remote  effects  have 
been  alluded  to.  It  remains  to  this  day,  notwithstanding 
the  changes  of  men  and  the  vicissitudes  of  parties  and 
politics,  the  talisman  which  enables  those  who  use  it  to 
govern  and  control  the  public  councils  of  the  nation. 
^One  cause  for  Mr.  Jefferson's  unpopularity  with  the  fed 
eralists  was  his  well  known  opposition  to  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States.  At  the  time  when  the  convention 
met  by  which  it  was  formed,  and  until  after  its  adoption 
by  the  states,  he  was  in  France  as  minister  plenipotentia 
ry  from  this  country.  It  was  well  understood  here,  that 
he  had  imbibed  many  of  the  wild  and  visionary  notions  of 
the  early  revolutionists  of  that  nation ;  and  when  he  came 
to  see  the  constitution  which  was  prepared,  and  was  about 
to  be  submitted  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  for 
their  approbation,  he  began  to  discover  many  serious  ob 
jections  to  it.  His  letters  to  his  American  friends  and 
correspondents,  contain  abundant  evidence  of  his  dislike  to 
that  instrument.  In  page  64  of  his  biography  of  himself, 
prefixed  to  the  first  volume  of  his  memoirs,  published 
since  his  death,  he  says  — "  This  convention  (which 
framed  the  constitution)  met  at  Philadelphia  on  the  25th 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  19 

of  May,  1787.  It  sat  with  closed  doors,  and  kept  all  its 
proceedings  secret  until  its  dissolution  on  the  17th  of  Sep 
tember,  when  the  results  of  its  labcvs  were  published  all 
together,  ^received  a  copy,  early  in  November,  arid  read 
and  contemplated  its  provisions  with  great  satisfaction. 
As  not  a  member  of  the  convention,  however,  nor  probably 
a  single  citizen  of  the  Union,  had  approved  of  it  in  all  its 
parts,  so  I,  too,  found  articles  which  I  thought  objectiona 
ble.  The  absence  of  express  declarations  ensuring  free 
dom  of  religion,  freedom  of  the  press,  freedom  of  the  per 
son  under  the  uninterrupted  protection  of  the  habeas  corpus, 
and  trial  by  jury  in  civil  as  well  as  in  criminal  cases,  ex 
cited  my  jealousy ;  and  the  re-eligibility  of  the  president 
for  life  I  quite  disapproved."  This  memoir  appears  to 
have  been  written  in  January,  1821,  when  Mr.  Jefferson 
was  77  years  of  age,  and  many  years  after  he  had  retired 
from  public  life. 

In  a  letter  to  John  Adams,  (vol.  2,  page  265,)  dated 
Paris,  November  13,  1787,  he  says  —  "  How  do  you  like 
our  new  constitution  ?  I  confess  there  are  things  in  it 
which  stagger  all  my  dispositions  to  subscribe  to  what 
such  an  assembly  has  proposed.  The  house  of  federal 
representatives  will  not  be  adequate  to  the  management  of 
affairs,  either  foreign  or  federal.  Their  president  seerns  a 
bad  edition  of  a  Polish  king.  He  may  be  elected  from  four 
years  to  four  years  for  life.  Keason  and  experience  prove 
to  us  that  a  chief  magistrate,  so  continuable,  is  an  office 
for  life.  When  one  or  two  generations  shall  have  proved 
that  this  is  an  office  for  life,  it  becomes,  on  every  succes 
sion,  worthy  of  intrigue,  of  bribery,  of  force,  and  even  of 
foreign  interference.  It  will  be  of  great  consequence  to 
France  and  England  to  have  America  governed  by  a 
Galloman  or  an  Angloman.  Once  in  office,  and  possess- 


20 


THE    CHARACTER    OF 


ing  the  military  force  of  the  Union,  without  the  aid  or 
check  of  a  council,  he  would  not  be  easily  dethroned,  even 
if  the  people  could  be  induced  to  withdraw  their  votes 
from  him.  I  wish  that  at  the  end  of  four  years  they  had 
made  him  forever  ineligible  a  second  time.  Indeed,  I 
think  all  the  good  of  this  constitution  might  have  been 
couched  in  three  or  four  new  articles  to  be  added  to  the 
good,  old,  and  venerable  fabric,  which  should  have  been 
preserved  even  as  a  religious  relique." 

In  a  letter  to  James  Madison,  dated  Paris,  December 
20,  1787,  (vol.  2,  272,)  [after  enumerating  several  things 
in  the  constitution  which  he  likes,]  he  says  —  "  I  will  now 
tell  you  what  I  do  not  like.  First,  the  omission  of  a  bill 
of  rights,  providing  clearly  and  without  the  aid  of  sophism, 
for  freedom  of  religion,  freedom  of  the  press,  protection 
against  standing  armies,  restriction  of  monopolies,  the 
eternal  and  unremitting  force  of  the  habeas  corpus  laws, 
and  trials  by  jury  in  all  matters  of  fact  triable  by  the  laws 
of  the  land,  and  not  by  the  laws  of  nations." 

"  The  second  feature  I  dislike,  and  strongly  dislike,  is 
the  abandonment,  in  every  instance,  of  the  principle  of 
rotation  in  office,  and  most  particularly  in  the  case  of  the 
president.  Reason  and  experience  tell  us  that  the  first 
magistrate  will  always  be  re-elected,  if  he  may  be  re-elect 
ed.  He  is  then  an  officer  for  life.  This  once  observed,  it 
becomes  of  so  much  consequence  to  certain  nations  to 
have  a  friend  or  foe  at  the  head  of  our  affairs,  that  they 
will  interfere  with  money  and  with  arms.  A  Galloman 
or  an  Angloman  will  be  supported  by  the  nation  he  be 
friends.  If  once  elected,  and  at  a  second  or  third  election 
out-voted  by  one  or  two  votes,  he  will  pretend  false  votes, 
foul  play,  hold  possession  of  the  reins  of  government,  be 
supported  by  the  states  voting  for  him,  especially  if  they 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  21 

be  the  central  ones,  lying  in  a  compact  body  themselves, 
and  separating  their  opponents ;  and  they  will  be  aided  by 
one  nation  in  Europe,  while  the  majority  are  aided  by 
another.  The  election  of  a  president  of  America,  some 
years  hence,  will  be  much  more  interesting  to  certain  na 
tions  of  Europe  than  ever  the  election  of  a  king  of  Poland 
was.  Reflect  on  all  the  instances  in  history,  ancient  and 
modern,  of  elective  monarchies,  and  say  if  they  do  not 
give  foundation  for  my  fears;  the  Roman  emperors,  the 
popes  while  they  were  of  any  importance,  the  German 
emperors  till  they  became  hereditary  in  practice,  the  kings 
of  Poland,  the  deys  of  the  Ottoman  dependencies." 

After  a  series  of  observations  upon  the  subject,  he  says 
—  "I  own  I  am  not  a  friend  to  a  very  energetic  govern 
ment.  It  is  always  oppressive.  It  places  the  governors, 
indeed,  more  at  their  ease  at  the  expense  of  the  people. 
The  late  rebellion  in  Massachusetts  has  given  more  alarm 
than  I  think  it  should  have  done.  Calculate  that  one  re 
bellion  in  thirteen  states  in  the  course  of  eleven  years,  it 
is  but  one  for  each  state  in  a  century  and  a  half.  No 
country  should  be  so  long  without  one." 

In  a  letter  to  E.  Carrington,  dated  Paris,  December  21, 

1787,  he  says  —  "  As  to  the  new  constitution,  I  find  my 
self  nearly  a  neutral.     There  is  a  great  mass  of  good  in 
it,  in   a   very  desirable   form;  but  there  is  also,  to  me,  a 
bitter  pill  or  two." 

In  a  letter  to  general  Washington,  dated  Paris,  May  2, 

1788,  he  says  —  "  I  had   intended  to  have  written  a  word 
on  the  subject  of  the  new  constitution,  but  I  have  already 
spun  out  my  letter  to  an  immoderate  length.     I  will  just 
observe,  therefore,  that  according  to   my  ideas,  there   is  a 
great  deal  of  good  in  it.     There  are  two  things,  however, 
which  I  dislike  strongly.     1.  The  want  of  a  declaration 


22  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

of  rights.  I  am  in  hopes  the  opposition  in  Virginia  will 
remedy  this  and  produce  such  a  declaration.  2.  The 
perpetual  re-eligibility  of  the  president.  This  I  fear  will 
make  that  an  office  for  life  first,  and  then  hereditary.  I 
was  much  an  enemy  to  monarchies  before  I  came  to  Eu 
rope.  I  am  ten  thousand  times  more  so  since  I  have 
seen  what  they  are.  There  is  scarcely  an  evil  known  in 
these  countries  which  may  not  be  traced  to  their  king  as 
its  source,  nor  a  good  which  is  not  derived  from  the  small 
fibres  of  republicanism  existing  among  them.  I  can  further 
say  with  safety,  there  is  not  a  crowned  head  in  Europe 
whose  talents  or  merits  would  entitle  him  to  be  elected  a 
vestryman  by  the  people  of  any  parish  in  America.  How 
ever,  I  still  hope  that  before  there  is  danger  of  this  change 
taking  place  in  the  office  of  president,  the  good  sense  and 
free  spirit  of  our  countrymen  will  make  the  changes  neces 
sary  to  prevent  it." 

In  a  letter  to  Francis  Hopkinson,  dated  Paris,  March 
13,  1789,  after  a  somewhat  extended  view  of  his  opinion 
respecting  the  constitution  and  of  his  political  sentiments, 
he  says  —  "  These  are  my  sentiments,  by  which  you  will 
see  I  was  right  in  saying,  I  am  neither  a  federlist  nor  anti- 
federalist  ;  that  I  am  of  neither  party,  nor  yet  a  trimmer 
between  parties." 

Many  more  passages  of  a  similar  character  might  be 
cited  from  his  writings  to  show  that  he  was  on  many  ac 
counts  opposed  to  the  constitution.  As  a  number  of  his 
letters  got  abroad,  his  sentiments  respecting  it  became 
known,  and  the  public  were  extensively  informed  of  the 
opinions  which  he  entertained  concerning  it.  This  is  a 
sufficient  vindication  of  the  federalists  —  who  were  the 
authors  of  the  constitution  and  were  mainly  instrumental 
in  procuring  its  adoption,  and  when  the  government  was 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  23 

formed  under  it,  of  establishing  the  great  system  of  politi 
cal  measures  which  has  been  continued  in  operation  until 
the  present  time  —  for  viewing  him  with  feelings  of  doubt 
and  suspicion  when  he  came  to  take,  an  active  part  in  the 
affairs  of  the  nation.  They  thought  it  would  require  all 
the  talents,  public  spirit,  and  energy  of  its  friends,  to  estab 
lish  it  and  put  it  into  operation.  They,  therefore,  very 
naturally  felt  strong  reluctance  at  the  idea  of  placing  it 
under  the  control  of  a  man  who  was  well  known  to  be 
opposed  to  many  of  its  important  principles  and  provisions. 
Another  source  of  apprehension  on  the  part  of  the  fed 
eralists  towards  Mr.  Jefferson,  was  a  firm  persuasion  that 
he  entertained  an  inordinate  attachment  to  revolutionary 
France.  Having  been  minister  from  this  country  to  that 
from  the  summer  of  1785  to  the  close  of  the  year  1789, 
he  had  lived  in  the  midst  of  all  the  preparatory  measures 
for  the  French  revolution.  Alluding  to  this  period,  he 
says  —  "I  had  left  France  in  the  first  year  of  her  revolu 
tion,  in  the  fervor  of  natural  rights  and  zeal  for  reforma 
tion.  My  conscientious  devotion  to  these  rights  could  not 
be  heightened,  but  it  had  been  aroused  and  excited  by 
daily  exercise."^  Naturally  enthusiastic  and  visionary, 
fond  of  theories,  and  entertaining  Utopian  notions  of  so 
ciety  and  government,  it  is  scarcely  possible  that  with  such 
a  peculiar  cast  of  mind  he  should  not  have  imbibed  the 
wildest  sentiments  of  that  distracted  era.  That  such  was 
the  fact,  the  following  passage  in  a  letter  to  J.  Madison, 
dated  Paris,  January  30, 1787,  furnishes  striking  evidence. 
"  Nothing  should  be  spared  on  our  part  to  attach  this  coun 
try  to  us.  It  is  the  only  one  on  which  we  can  rely  for  sup 
port  under  every  event.  Its  inhabitants  love  us  more,  I 
think,  than  they  do  any  other  nation  on  earth.  This  is 

*  Jefferson's  Writings,  vol.  4,  p.  446,  (Ana). 


24  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

very  much  the  effect  of  the  good  dispositions  with  which 
the  French  officers  returned."  Again  (in  his  Ana,  vol. 
4,  page  496,)  he  calls  "  France  the  only  nation  on  earth 
sincerely  our  friend."  Feelings  of  this  description  he 
carried  into  public  life  when  he  entered  upon  the  office  o^ 
secretary  of  state  under  the  new  government.  As  early 
as  February,  1791,  he  was  instructed  "  to  make  a  report 
as  to  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  privileges  granted  to 
American  commerce,  as  well  as  the  restrictions  imposed 
upon  it  by  foreign  nations ;  and  also  as  to  the  measures, 
in  his  opinion,  proper  for  the  improvement  of  the  com 
merce  and  navigation  of  the  United  States."* 

This  report,  as  was  well  known  at  the  time,  gave  rise 
to  the  celebrated  commercial  resolutions  submitted  to  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  in  January, 
1794.  "  The  substance  of  the  first,  says  Mr.  Pitkin,  was, 
that  the  interest  of  the  United  States  would  be  promoted 
by  further  restrictions  and  higher  duties,  in  certain  cases, 
on  the  manufactures  and  navigation  of  foreign  nations. 
The  additional  duties  were  to  be  laid  on  certain  articles 
manufactured  by  those  European  nations  which  had  no 
commercial  treaties  with  the  United  States."  This  was 
carried  by  a  small  majority.  "  The  last  of  the  resolutions 
declared,  that  provision  ought  to  be  made  for  ascertaining 
the  losses  sustained  by  American  citizens  from  the  opera 
tion  of  particular  regulations  of  any  country  contravening 
the  laws  of  nations  ;  and  that  these  losses  be  reimbursed, 
in  the  first  instance,  out  of  the  additional  duties  on  the 
manufactures  and  vessels  of  the  nation  establishing  such 
regulations."! 

The  discussion  of  these  resolutions  showed,  that  their 

*  Pitkin's  Pol.  and  Civ.  Hist.  U.  S.;  vol.  2,  406. 
f  Ibid,  407. 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  25 

object  was  political  as  well  as  commercial,  and  it  was  ap 
parent  that  the  effect  of  them  would  be  to  transfer  the 
trade  of  the  United  States  from  Great  Britain  to  France. 
In  the  course  of  it,  a  proposition  was  offered  to  the  house, 
by  a  member  of  the  name  of  Clark,  which  declared  that 
until  the  British  government  should  make  restitution  for 
all  losses  and  damages  sustained  by  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  from  British  armed  vessels,  contrary  to  the 
law  of  nations,  and  also  until  the  western  posts  be  given 
up  by  the  British,  all  commercial  intercourse  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain,  so  far  as  respects  the 
products  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  should  be  prohibit 
ed."^  Had  this  measure  been  carried  into  effect,  it  is  easy 
to  see  that  it  would  have  turned  the  mercantile  concerns 
of  this  country  away  from  Great  Britain  and  directed 
them  immediately  to  France  —  the  object  which  Mr.  Jef 
ferson  was  undoubtedly  desirous  of  accomplishing;  and  in 
a  letter  to  Tench  Coxe,  dated  May  1,  1794,  he  expresses 
his  decided  approbation  of  Mr.  Clark's  proposition  of  cut 
ting  off  all  communication  with  the  nation  which  has  used 
us  so  atrociously.  Although  his  professed  object  in  the 
adoption  of  this  measure  was  to  punish  the  injustice  of 
Great  Britain  towards  the  United  States,  no  reasonable 
person  can  doubt  .that  his  approbation  of  the  measure 
arose  from  the  consideration  that  it  would  have  a  direct 
tendency  to  accomplish  the  great  object  he  had  recom 
mended  to  Mr.  Madison  in  January,  1787,  that  "nothing 
should  be  spared  on  our  part  to  attach  France  to  us." 

With  a  full  belief  that  Mr.  Jefferson  entertained  this 
strong  partiality  to  France,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  sober,  reflecting  men,  of  sounder  principles  and  more 
correct  views,  should  withhold  their  confidence  from  him, 

*  Pitkin's  Pol.  and  Civ.  Hist.,  vol.  2,  p.  412. 
3 


26  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

or  that  they  should  look  with  apprehension  to  the  effects 
of  his  political  influence  and  conduct.  It  was  perfectly 
well  known,  in  this  country  as  well  as  in  Europe,  that  not 
only  the  political  but  the  moral  and  religious  character  of 
the  French  people  had  become  wild,  extravagant  and  de 
praved.  During  the  earliest  stages  of  their  revolution,  all 
the  restraints  of  government  were  cast  off,  the  rabble  ob 
tained  the  entire  ascendency,  and  were  guilty  of  the  most 
terrible  excesses ;  and  Paris  became  a  scene  of  riot,  blood 
shed,  and  every  kind  of  atrocity  which  human  ingenuity 
could  devise  and  savage  barbarity  could  execute.  Power 
was  seized  by  the  most  sanguinary  villains  and  cutthroats, 
and  no  person's  life,  against  whom  their  vengeance  was 
directed,  was  safe  for  a  day,  and  scarcely  for  an  hour.  In 
short,  that  city  for  years  exhibited  Mr.  Jefferson's  favor 
ite  spectacle  of  "  the  tempestuous  sea  of  liberty."  At  the 
same  time,  Christianity  was  scouted  from  the  nation,  the 
grossest  infidelity  and  the  greatest  profligacy  of  principle 
and  conduct  prevailed  through  the  community,  and  the 
great  body  of  the  people  became  ferocious  atheists.  That 
those  who  considered  the  state  of  things  in  revolutionary 
France  with  dread  and  abhorrence  should  be  apprehen 
sive  of  evil  consequences  from  the  influence  and  principles 
of  a  man  who  had  witnessed  the  beginning  of  these  evils 
in  that  country  and  had  returned  to  this,  with  his  mind 
excited  by  the  fervor  of  reformation,  and  disposed  to  at 
tach  this  nation  to  that  as  the  only  one  on  which  we 
could  rely  for  support,  is  not  surprising. 

Those  who  were  on  the  stage  of  life  at  the  time  Mr. 
Jefferson  returned  from  France,  and  had  opportunity  not 
only  to  witness  the  commencement  of  the  French  revolu 
tion  but  to  see  its  progress  and  its  close,  will  be  able  to 
determine  how  far  the  federalists  were  justifiable  in  enter- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  27 

taining  suspicions  of  the  soundness  and  practical  utility  of 
his  political  principles.  The  experiment  has  decided  the 
question  so  conclusively  that  there  is  not,  at  the  present 
time,  the  least  possible  room  for  dispute  or  cavil.  Its  ca 
reer  began  in  civil  commotions,  in  riots  and  massacres  at 
home,  in  wantonly  shedding  the  blood  of  each  other ;  and 
it  soon  extended  itself  to  other  countries,  and  in  a  short 
time  involved  Europe  in  the  most  sanguinary,  destructive 
and  desolating  wars  that  were  ever  known  in  that  portion 
of  the  globe  since  the  introduction  of  civilization  and  the 
establishment  of  Christianity.  Notwithstanding  the  ob 
vious  tendency  of  the  revolutionary  measures  of  that  coun 
try,  and  the  lawless  spirit  which  marked  all  their  proceed 
ings,  at  home  and  abroad,  such  was  the  wild,  enthusiastic 
character  of  his  mind,  that  he  was  never  thoroughly  cured 
of  the  revolutionary  mania  until  the  revolution  itself  was 
brought  to  a  close  by  the  establishment  of  a  military  des 
potism.  In  a  letter  to  Tench  Coxe,  dated  May  1,  1794, 
after  he  had  left  the  office  of  secretary  of  state,  he  says. 
"  Your  letters  give  a  comfortable  view  of  French  affairs, 
and  later  events  seem  to  confirm  it.  Over  the  foreign 
powers  I  am  confident  they  will  triumph  completely ;  and 
I  cannot  but  hope  that  that  triumph,  and  the  consequent 
disgrace  of  the  invading  tyrants,  is  destined,  in  the  order 
of  events,  to  kindle  the  wrath  of  the  people  of  Europe 
against  those  who  have  dared  to  embroil  them  in  such 
wickedness,  and  to  bring,  at  length,  kings,  nobles  and 
priests,  to  the  scaffolds  which  they  have  been  so  long  del 
uging  with  human  blood.  I  am  still  warm  whenever  I 
think  of  these  scoundrels,  though  I  do  it  as  seldom  as  I 
can,  preferring  infinitely  to  contemplate  the  tranquil 
growth  of  my  lucerne  and  potatos."  In  the  following 
year,  in  a  letter  to  W.  B.  Giles,  dated  April  27,  1795,  he 


28  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

says,  "I  sincerely  congratulate  you  on  the  great  prosperities 
of  our  two  first  allies,  the  French  and  Dutch.  If  I  could 
but  see  them  now  at  peace  with  the  rest  of  their  continent, 
I  should  have  little  doubt  of  dining  with  Pichegru  in  Lon 
don,  next  autumn ;  for  I  believe  I  should  be  tempted  to 
leave  my  clover  for  a-while,  and  go  and  hail  the  dawn  of 
liberty  and  republicanism  in  that  island." 

Republicanism  seemed  to  be,  at  the  outset,  the  great 
charm  which  drew  towards  France  Mr.  Jefferson's  most 
enthusiastic  affections,  as  well  as  admiration.  But  when 
that  farce  was  ended,  and  the  government  had  assumed  a 
totally  different  form,  being  nothing  less  than  a  severe  and 
unqualified  despotism  under  the  name  of  a  consulate,  such 
was  his  ardor  in  favor  of  that  nation  that  he  appeared  to 
transfer  his  confidence,  as  well  as  his  esteem,  to  the  dic 
tator  who  controlled  its  affairs.  In  a  letter  to  Robert  R. 
Livingston,  dated  November  4,  1803,  during  his  first  pe 
riod  as  president,  when  speaking  of  the  Louisiana  treaty, 
he  says,  "  Mr.  Pichon,  according  to  instructions  from  his 
government,  proposed  to  have  added  to  the  ratification  a 
protestation  against  any  failure  in  time  or  other  circum 
stances  of  execution  on  our  part.  He  was  told,  that  in 
that  case  we  should  annex  a  counter  protestation,  which 
would  leave  the  thing  exactly  where  it  was;  that  this 
transaction  had  been  conducted,  from  the  commencement 
of  the  negociation  to  this  stage  of  it,  with  a  frankness  and 
sincerity  honorable  to  both  nations,  and  comfortable  to  the 
heart  of  an  honest  man  to  review;  that  to  annex  to  this 
last  chapter  of  the  transaction  such  an  evidence  of  mutual 
distrust  was  to  change  its  aspect  dishonorably  for  us  both, 
and  contrary  to  truth  as  to  us ;  for  that  we  had  not  the 
smallest  doubt  that  France  would  punctually  execute  its 
part ;  and  I  assured  Mr.  Pichon  that  I  had  more  confidence 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  29' 

in  the  word  of  the  first  consul  than  in  all  the  parchment 
we  could  sign." 

How  long  Mr.  Jefferson  continued  to  entertain  feelings 
of  this  sort  for  Bonaparte  may  perhaps  be  ascertained  by 
what  follows.  After  the  conqueror  of  Europe  had  himself 
been  conquered  and  dethroned,  and  banished  to  the  island 
of  Elba,  in  the  Mediterranean,  in  a  letter  to  John  Adams, 
dated  July  5,  1814,  the  tide  of  admiration  seems  to  have 
changed  with  the  change  of  fortune,  and  he  speaks  of  him 
in  a  very  harsh  and  unkind  manner,  as  follows  :  —  "Shall 
you  and  I  last  to  see  the  course  the  seven-fold  wonders  of 
the  times  will  take?  The  Attila  of  the  age  dethroned, 
the  ruthless  destroyer  of  ten  millions  of  the  human  race, 
whose  thirst  for  blood  appeared  unquenchable,  the  great 
oppressor  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  world,  shut  up 
within  the  circuit  of  a  little  island  of  the  Mediterranean, 
and  dwindled  to  the  condition  of  a  humble  and  degraded 
pensioner  on  the  bounty  of  those  he  has  most  injured. 
How  miserably,  how  meanly,  has  he  closed  his  inflated 
career!  What  a  sample  of  the  bathos  will  his  history 
present !  He  should  have  perished  on  the  swords  of  his 
enemies  under  the  walls  of  Paris. 

"  But  Bonaparte  was  a  lion  in  the  field  only.  In  civil 
life  a  cold-blooded,  calculating,  unprincipled  usurper,  with 
out  a  virtue;  no  statesman,  knowing  nothing  of  commerce, 
political  economy,  or  civil  government,  and  supplying  ig 
norance  by  bold  presumption.  I  had  supposed  him  a  great 
man  until  his  entrance  into  the  Assembly  des  Cinq  Cens, 
eighteenth  Brumaire,  (an.  8.)  From  that  date,  however. 
I  set  him  down  as  a  great  scoundrel  only.  To  the  won 
ders  of  his  rise  and  fall,  we  may  add  that  of  a  Czar  of 
Muscovy,  dictating,  in  Paris,  laws  and  limits  to  all  the 
3* 


30  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

successors  of  the  Caesars,  and  holding  even  the  balance  in 
which  the  fortunes  of  this  new  world  are  suspended." 

This  extract  contains  facts  enough,  under  Mr.  Jeffer 
son's  own  authority,  to  justify  the  federalists  for  the  opinion 
they  formed  of  Bonaparte's  character,  the  objects  which 
he,  and  of  course  the  nation  which  supported  him  in  pur 
suing  those  objects,  had  in  view,  the  dangers  which  they  ap 
prehended  from  his  supremacy,  and  the  controling  influ 
ence  which  he  would  be  able  to  exert,  after  having  sub 
jugated  Europe  including  Great  Britain,  over  the  affairs 
and  interests  of  this  country.  The  federalists  viewed 
Bonaparte  throughout  his  career  as  an  Attila — a  "scourge 
of  God,"  more  nearly  resembling  his  great  predecessor 
than  any  other  personage  mentioned  in  modern  history ; 
and  it  was  for  a  close  adherence  to  him  and  his  measures 
that  they  considered  Mr.  Jefferson  as  a  dangerous  man  to 
be  placed  over  the  government  of  their  country.  They 
looked  with  strong  apprehensions  to  the  consequences  of 
electing  a  man  to  the  office  of  chief  magistrate  who  was 
friendly  to  "  the  ruthless  destroyer  of  ten  millions  of  the 
human  race;"  to  one  "whose  thirst  for  blood  appeared 
unquenchable,"  and  who  was  "  the  great  oppressor  of  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  the  whole  world  " — "  a  cold-blooded, 
calculating,  unprincipled  usurper,  without  a  virtue."  Mr. 
Jefferson  says  he  "  had  supposed  him  to  be  a  great  man 
until  his  entrance  into  the  assembly,"  in  the  eighth  year  ; 
"  from  that  date  he  set  him  down  as  a  great  scoundrel 
only." 

The  federalists  having  obtained  an  earlier  insight  into 
his  real  character,  differed  essentially  from  Mr.  Jefferson 
concerning  him.  They  did  not  form  their  opinions  of 
him  on  the  comparatively  trifling  circumstance  of  his  con- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  31 

duct  on  the  occasion  alluded  to.  They  had  but  little  con 
fidence  in  the  characters  and  conduct  of  the  principal  lead 
ers  in  the  revolutionary  conflict,  and  in  none  less  than  him. 
And  the  farther  the  revolutionists  advanced  in  their  tre 
mendous  career,  the  more  strongly  were  their  early  opin 
ions  and  sentiments,  respecting  both  the  men  and  their 
objects,  confirmed ;  and  they  were  not  under  the  necessity, 
at  so  late  a  period,  of  acknowledging  their  error  and  alter 
ing  their  whole  course  of  thought,  as  well  as  of  conduct, 
with  regard  lo  them. 

And  yet,  on  the  simple  ground  that  the  federalists  had 
formed  these  correct  sentiments  respecting  revolutionary 
France  and  Frenchmen  at  an  earlier  period  than  himself, 
Mr.  Jefferson,  for  many  years,  stigmatized  them  as  Anglo- 
men,  friends  of  monarchy,  aristocrats,  enemies  of  freedom, 
republicanism  and  the  rights  of  men.  By  pursuing  this 
course,  and  rousing  up  popular  prejudice  and  vulgar  pas 
sion,  he  succeeded  in  depriving  them  of  the  public  respect 
and  confidence,  and  in  elevating  himself  to  the  head  of  the 
government. 


32  THE    CHARACTER    OF 


CHAPTER    II. 

The  Federalists  opposed  to  Mr.  Jefferson  because  he  used  the  gov 
ernment  patronage  to  promote  his  own  and  his  party's  interests 
— Case  of  the  removal  of  the  New  Haven  collector — Letter  to  the 
New  Haven  merchants — Collector  not  removed  for  want  of  in 
tegrity,  capacity  or  fidelity — Attempt  to  fix  the  charge  of  polit 
ical  intolerance  upon  Mr.  Adams — If  it  lay  against  any  person, 
it  was  Gen.  Washington — Doors  of  honor,  &c.,  burst  open  by 
Mr.  Jefferson's  election — Origin  of  the  doctrine  that  a  change 
of  administration  involves  the  principle  of  a  change  of  subordi 
nate  officers — His  election  considered  by  him  as  a  revolution — 
All  executive  officers  viewed  by  him  as  executive  agents — 
Proved  by  a  letter  to  J.  Munroe. 

THE  federalists  were  opposed  to  Mr.  Jefferson  on  the 
ground  that  he  made  use  of  the  patronage  of  the  govern 
ment  to  promote  the  views  and  interests  of  himself  and  his 
party,  without  any  reference  to  the  public  welfare.  His 
immediate  predecessor  in  office,  John  Adams,  had  appoint 
ed  Elizur  Goodrich  collector  of  the  port  of  New  Haven, 
Conn.  This  gentleman  performed  the  duties  of  his  office 
with  strict  fidelity  to  the  government,  and  in  a  manner 
entirely  acceptable  to  the  inhabitants  and  merchants  of  that 
place.  Upon  hearing  of  his  removal,  the  latter  united  in 
a  respectful  but  frank  and  decided  remonstrance  against 
the  measure,  expressing  in  the  fullest  manner  their  appro 
bation  of  his  character  and  conduct,  and  requesting  that  he 
might  be  restored  to  his  place.  In  his  reply  to  this  appli 
cation,  Mr.  Jefferson,  without  suggesting  the  slightest 
charge  against  Mr.  Goodrich  as  an  officer  of  the  govern 
ment,  places  his  removal  from  office  solely  on  political 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  33 

ground.  He  says,  "  The  removal,  as  it  is  called,  of  Mr. 
Goodrich,  forms  another  subject  of  complaint.  Declara- 
rations  by  myself  in  favor  of  political  tolerance,  exhorta 
tions  to  harmony  and  affection  in  social  intercourse,  and 
to  respect  for  the  equal  rights  of  the  minority,  have,  on 
certain  occasions,  been  quoted  and  misconstrued  into  assu 
rances  that  the  tenure  of  offices  was  to  be  undisturbed. 
But  could  candor  apply  such  a  construction  ?  It  is  not 
indeed  in  the  remonstrance  that  we  find  it ;  but  it  leads  to 
the  explanations  which  that  culls  for.  When  it  is  consid 
ered  that,  during  the  late  administration,  those  who  were 
not  of  a  particular  sect  of  politics  were  excluded  from  all 
office ;  when,  by  a  steady  pursuit  of  this  measure,  nearly 
the  whole  offices  of  the  United  States  were  monopolized 
by  that  sect ;  when  the  public  sentiment  at  length  declared 
itself,  and  burst  open  the  doors  of  honor  and  confidence  to 
those  whose  opinions  they  more  approved ;  was  it  to  be 
imagined  that  this  monopoly  of  office  was  to  be  continued 
in  the  hands  of  the  minority  ?  Does  it  violate  their  equal 
rights  to  assert  some  rights  in  the  majority  also  ?  Is  it 
political  intolerance  to  claim  a  proportionate  share  in  the 
direction  of  the  public  affairs  ?  Can  they  not  harmonize 
in  society  unless  they  have  everything  in  their  own 
hands  ?  If  the  will  of  the  nation,  manifested  by  their  va 
rious  elections,  calls  for  an  administration  of  government 
according  with  the  opinions  of  those  elected ;  if,  for  the 
fulfilment  of  that  will,  displacements  are  necessary,  with 
whom  can  they  so  justly  begin  as  with  persons  appointed 
in  the  last  moments  of  an  administration,  not  for  its  own 
aid,  but  to  begin  a  career  at  the  same  time  with  their  suc 
cessors,  by  whom  they  had  never  been  approved,  and  who 
could  scarcely  expect  from  them  a  cordial  co-operation  ? 
Mr.  Goodrich  was  one  of  these.  Was  it  proper  for  him 


34  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

to  place  himself  in  office  without  knowing  whether  those 
whose  agent  he  was  to  be,  would  have  confidence  in  his 
agency1?  Can  the  preference  of  another  as  the  successor 
of  Mr.  Austin  be  candidly  called  a  removal  of  Mr.  Good 
rich  ?  If  a  due  participation  of  office  is  a  matter  of  right, 
how  are  vacancies  to  be  obtained  ?  those  by  death  are  few, 
by  resignation  none.  Can  any  other  mode  than  that  of 
removal  be  proposed  ?  This  is  a  painful  office  ;  but  it  is 
made  my  duty,  and  I  meet  it  as  such.  I  proceed  in  the 
operation  with  deliberation  and  inquiry,  that  it  may  injure 
the  best  men  least,  and  effect  the  purposes  of  justice  and 
public  utility  with  the  least  private  distress ;  that  it  may 
be  thrown  as  much  as  possible,  on  delinquency,  on  op 
pression,  on  intolerance,  on  anti-revolutionary  adherence 
to  our  enemies. 

"  The  remonstrance  laments  that  a  change  in  the  ad 
ministration  must  produce  a  change  in  the  subordinate 
officers ;  in  other  words,  that  it  should  be  deemed  neces 
sary  for  all  officers  to  think  with  their  principal.  But  on 
whom  does  this  imputation  bear  ?  On  those  who  have 
excluded  from  office  every  shade  of  opinion  which  was 
not  theirs,  or  on  those  who  have  been  so  excluded  ?  I 
lament  sincerely  that  unessential  differences  of  opinion 
should  ever  have  been  deemed  sufficient  to  interdict  half 
the  society  from  the  rights  and  the  blessings  of  self-gov 
ernment,  to  proscribe  them  as  unworthy  of  every  trust. 
It  would  have  been  to  me  a  circumstance  of  great  relief 
had  I  found  a  moderate  participation  of  office  in  the  hands 
of  the  majority.  I  would  gladly  have  left  to  time  and 
accident  to  raise  them  to  their  just  share.  But  their  total 
exclusion  calls  for  prompter  corrections.  I  shall  correct 
the  procedure;  but  that  done,  return  with  joy  to  that  state 
of  things  when  the  only  questions  concerning  a  candidate 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  65 

shall  be,  Is  he  honest  ?  Is  he  capable  ?  Is  he  faithful  to 
the  constitution  ?  " 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  Mr.  Goodrich  was  not  re 
moved  from  office  in  consequence  of  any  imputation  upon 
his  integrity,  his  capacity,  or  his  fidelity.  In  each  of 
these  particulars  he  was  not  only  above  reproach,  but  even 
above  suspicion.  Indeed  it  was  not  Mr.  Jefferson's  object 
to  inquire  into  these  traits  of  his  character.  He  acknowl 
edges  that  he  had  departed  from  the  state  of  things  in 
which  such  an  inquiry  could  properly  be  made ;  and  at 
the  close  of  his  letter,  devoutly  expresses  the  hope  that, 
when  he  has  corrected  the  errors  of  his  predecessors, 
Washington  and  Adams,  in  selecting  candidates  and 
making  appointments,  he  shall  return  with  joy  to  that 
state,  and  make  those  qualifications  the  sole  objects  of  in 
quiry.  It  is,  then,  to  be  considered  as  indisputable,  that 
in  removing  Mr.  Goodrich  and  appointing  his  successor, 
Mr.  Jefferson  had  no  regard  to  the  qualifications  of  integ 
rity,  capacity,  and  fidelity  to  the  constitution,  but  was  ac 
tuated  by  different  motives  and  another  spirit;  and  it 
must  necessarily  follow  that  his  objects  were  political,  per 
sonal  and  selfish ;  and  his  remarks  in  attempting  to  vin 
dicate  his  course,  are  founded  altogether  upon  that  idea. 

He  says,  that  during  the  late  administration,  those  who 
were  not  of  a  particular  sect  of  politics  were  excluded  from 
office.  This  attempt  to  confine  the  charge  of  intolerance 
to  Mr.  Adams's  administration  is  a  mere  trick.  Mr. 
Adams  was  in  office  but  four  years.  Probably  he  left  the 
offices  generally  as  he  found  them,  occupied  by  those  who 
had  been  placed  in  them  by  general  Washington.  It  is 
certain  he  made  very  few  removals ;  and  it  may  be  said 
with  safety,  that  not  one  was  made  for  political  reasons. 
If  there  was  anything  sectarian  then  in  the  system  of  ap- 


36  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

pointments  to  office,  it  was  chargeable  more  to  general 
Washington  than  to  Mr.  Adams.  But  as  general  Wash 
ington's  popularity  was  much  greater  than  Mr.  Adams's, 
and  the  country  had  hardly  ceased  mourning  for  his  death, 
with  characteristic  cunning  Mr.  Jefferson  charges  the  se 
clusion  of  his  own  sect  from  office  to  the  account  of  Mr. 
Adams.  That  sect,  however,  had  scarcely  a  name  or  an 
existence  when  general  Washington's  administration  com 
menced  ;  and  when  the  first  appointments  under  the  gov 
ernment  were  made,  reference  could  not  have  been  had 
to  political  distinctions.  A  state  of  things  existed  in  which 
the  inquiry  respecting  the  integrity,  capacity  and  fidelity 
to  the  constitution,  could  be  made  and  was  made ;  nor 
was  it  necessary  to  return  to  that  practice,  as  it  had  not 
been  departed  from.  Mr.  Jefferson,  then,  on  the  score  of 
intolerance,  had  no  ground  of  complaint,  against  either 
Mr.  Adams  or  General  Washington.  This  brings  his 
case  down  to  one  of  a  mere  political  character.  He  had 
been  elected  president  by  a  party,  and  was  under  the  ne 
cessity  of  rewarding  his  partizans  with  offices  and  in 
comes  ;  and  here  may  be  found  the  origin  of  the  doctrine 
of  "  contending  for  victory  and  dividing  the  spoils."  New 
York,  with  all  its  claims  to  practical  distinction  in  this  re 
spect,  is  not  entitled  to  the  merit  of  having  invented  this 
system. 

But,  says  Mr.  Jefferson,  "  when  the  public  sentiment  at 
length  declared  itself,  and  burst  open  the  doors  of  honor 
and  confidence  to  those  whose  opinions  they  more  approv 
ed,  was  it  to  be  imagined  that  this  monopoly  of  office  was 
still  to  be  continued  in  the  hands  of  the  minority  ?  Does 
it  violate  their  equal  rights,  to  assert  some  rights  in  the 
majority  also  ? "  He  obviously  goes  upon  the  ground,  that 
the  great  political  struggle  which  terminated  in  his  own 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON,  37 

election  —  an  event  of  so  much  importance  in  his  opinion, 
as  well  as  in  that  of  his  warm  partizans,  as  to  be  dignified 
with  the  character  of  a  revolution  —  was  a  mere  conflict 
for  office.  The  rights  and  the  blessings  of  self-govern 
ment  of  which  he  speaks  as  belonging  to  the  majority, 
must  of  necessity  be  the  emoluments  of  office,  because  the 
great  contest  through  which  they  had  just  passed  had  put 
them  in  possession  of  the  administration  of  the  govern 
ment.  All  the  rights  which  they  could  claim  beyond  this 
were  what,  in  more  modern  and  more  simple  language, 
are  called  the  "  spoils  of  victory."  Again  —  Mr.  Jefferson 
says,  "  If  the  will  of  the  nation,  manifested  by  their  vari 
ous  elections,  calls  for  an  administration  of  government 
according  with  the  opinions  of  those  elected ;  if,  for  the 
fulfilment  of  that  will,  displacements  are  necessary,  with 
whom  can  they  so  justly  begin  as  with  persons  appointed 
in  the  last  moments  of  an  administration,  not  for  its  own 
aid,  but  to  begin  a  career  at  the  same  time  with  their  suc 
cessors,  by  whom  they  had  never  been  approved,  and  who 
would  scarcely  expect  from  them  a  cordial  co-operation." 
Here  the  idea  is  first  started  under  our  government,  that 
a  change  in  the  administration  involves  the  principle  of  a 
thorough  change  in  subordinate  offices  —  or  in  other  words, 
that  the  great  revolution  in  eighteen  hundred  meant  noth 
ing  more  than  to  make  Mr.  Jefferson  president  that  he 
might  have  it  in  his  power  to  bestow  offices  upon  his  parti 
zans.  It  can  imply  nothing  more  nor  less  than  this ;  for 
the  administration  of  the  government,  so  far  as  the  execu 
tive  branch  of  it  is  concerned,  cannot  depend  upon  the 
political  principles  or  sentiments  of  the  collectors  of  the 
customs,  or  any  other  subordinate  class  of  ministerial  of 
fice  holders.  The  idea,  therefore,  that  the  election  of  a 
new  chief  magistrate  calls  upon  the  various  subordinate 
4 


38  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

officers  to  assist  in  an  administration  according  with  the 
political  opinions  of  that  officer,  as  suggested  in  the  sen 
tence  just  quoted,  is  absurd.  Such  an  idea  cannot  exist, 
because  those  officers  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  admin 
istration  of  the  government.  Their  duties  are  the  same 
under  all  administrations  ;  and  they  consist  entirely  and 
exclusively  in  the  faithful  collection  of  the  imposts  on 
merchandize,  and  the  punctual  payment  of  the  money  re 
ceived  from  that  source  into  the  treasury.  These  duties 
were  strictly  performed  by  Mr.  Goodrich  ;  and,  of  course, 
he  did  everything  which  the  laws  required  of  him  as  a 
faithful  officer  of  the  government,  notwithstanding  the  re 
sult  of  the  election  which  had  recently  occurred,  by  which 
Mr.  Jefferson  had  been  placed  at  the  head  of  that  govern 
ment.  In  what  sense,  then,  is  the  expression,  when 
speaking  of  Mr.  Adams's  appointments,  from  whom  the 
new  administration  could  not  expect  a  cordial  co-operation, 
to  be  understood  ?  It  must  mean  something  beyond  the 
performance  of  the  legitimate  duties  of  the  office  of  col 
lector,  because  those  duties  were  strictly  and  punctiliously 
performed  by  that  gentleman.  Co-operation  with  the  ad 
ministration,  then,  must  necessarily  have  intended,  in  Mr. 
Jefferson's  understanding  of  the  phrase,  services  devoted  to 
the  promotion  of  his  own  personal  and  political  interests, 
to  the  furtherance  of  his  selfish  views  and  projects,  and  the 
continuance  of  the  predominance  of  the  party  of  which  he 
was  the  avowed  and  acknowledged  head.  And  this  expla 
nation  of  his  language  is  rendered  clear  and  indisputable 
by  what  immediately  follows  in  this  extraordinary  letter. 
"  Mr.  Goodrich,"  he  says,  "  was  one  of  these  "  —  that  is, 
one  of  the  persons  appointed  by  Mr.  Adams,  from  whom 
he,  that  is  Mr.  Jefferson,  could  not  expect  a  cordial  co 
operation.  And  he  then  significantly  asks  — "Was  it 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  39 

proper  for  him  to  place  himself  in  office  without  knowing 
whether  those  whose  agent  he  was  to  be  would  place  con 
fidence  in  his  agency  ?  "  Without  stopping  to  notice  the 
absurdity  of  the  suggestion,  that  Mr.  Goodrich  had  placed 
himself  in  office,  it  is  of  more  importance  to  ascertain 
what  is  meant  by  the  expression  whose  agent  he  was  to  be. 
It  has  already  been  remarked,  that  Mr.  Goodrich's  lawful 
business  was  to  collect  the  revenue  at  New  Haven  and  pay 
the  monies  received  by  him  into  the  national  treasury.  In 
doing  this  he  was  the  agent  of  the  government,  not  of  the 
executive.  The  imposts  upon  merchandize  were  laid  by  con 
gress,  not  by  the  executive  ;  and  the  money  received  from 
them  was  to  pay  the  debts  and  expenses  of  the  government, 
not  for  the  profit  or  benefit  of  the  executive  branch  of  the 
government.  Nothing,  therefore,  beyond  the  faithful  col 
lection  and  punctual  payment  of  the  receipts  of  his  office 
could  have  been  legitimately  required  of  him  ;  this  was  the 
extent  of  his  agency  :  and  if  anything  further  was  exacted 
or  expected  from  him,  it  must  have  been  intended  for  sel 
fish  or  party  purposes,  and  of  course  must  have  been  illegal 
ly  demanded.  For  such  purposes,  men  of  integrity,  capaci 
ty  and  fidelity  to  their  constitutional  duties  were  removed 
from  office  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  for  the  sole  object  of  intro 
ducing  others  into  their  places  who  would  become  execu 
tive  agents,  possess  executive  confidence,  perform  executive 
services,  and  promote  the  views  and  interests  of  an  indi 
vidual  or  a  party,  instead  of  confining  themselves  and 
their  labors  to  the  more  circumscribed  and  legitimate  circle 
of  constitutional  requirements. 

Who  can  fail  to  trace  to  this  pernicious  source  the  cor 
rupt  and  disgraceful  practise  which,  at  a  subsequent  period, 
so  extensively  prevailed,  of  forcing  every  office-holder  to 
become  the  tool  of  the  executive  branch  of  the  government 


40  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

—  of  the  universal  bestowment  of  offices  as  the  price  of 
servitude  under  that  grasping  ambitious  power,  and  as  the 
reward  of  entire  and  absolute  devotion  to  the  plans,  po 
litical  intrigues,  and  corrupt  system  of  measures,  of  a  bold 
and  greedy  party  ? 

That  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  removing  the  New  Haven  collec 
tor  and  other  faithful  officers  from  their  places,  was  actua 
ted  by  no  other  principle  or  motive  than  those  which  have 
here  been  ascribed  to  him,  is  acknowledged  in  this  letter. 
He  remarks,  that  after  having  corrected  the  procedure  un 
der  the  former  administrations,  "  he  shall  with  joy  return 
to  that  state  of  things,  when  the  only  questions  concerning 
a  candidate  shall  be,  Is  he  honest  ?  Is  he  capable  ?  Is  he 
faithful  to  the  constitution?  "  He  had,  then,  as  has  been 
remarked,  departed  from  that  state  of  things;  and,  of 
course,  while  thus  wandering  from  the  path  of  duty,  he 
must  have  asked  a  very  different  series  of  questions. 
What  the  nature  of  those  questions  was  can  be  easily  ima 
gined.  It  must  necessarily  have  been  of  a  kind  which 
had  no  reference  to  the  constitutional  duties  of  the  execu 
tive  head  of  the  government,  but  such  as  were  unknown 
to  the  constitution,  and  of  course  dangerous  to  the  inter 
ests,  the  general  welfare,  and  the  constitutional  liberties  of 
the  people. 

If  it  could  be  necessary  to  place  this  matter  in  a  still 
clearer  and  stronger  light,  reference  might  be  had  to  a  let 
ter  to  Jarnes  Monroe,  dated  March  7,  1801,  immediately 
after  Mr.  Jefferson  had  been  sworn  into  office,  in  which 
he  says  — 

"  These  people,"  (the  federalists,)  "  I  always  exclude 
their  leaders,  are  now  aggregated  with  us,  they  look  with 
a  certain  degree  of  affection  and  confidence  to  the  admin 
istration,  ready  to  become  attached  to  it,  if  it  avoids  in 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  41 

the  outset  acts  which  might  revolt  and  throw  them  off. 
To  give  time  for  a  perfect  consolidation  seems  prudent. 
I  have  firmly  refused  to  follow  the  counsels  of  those  who 
have  desired  the  giving  offices  to  some  of  their  leaders,  in 
order  to  reconcile.  I  have  given,  and  will  give,  only  to 
republicans  under  existing  circumstances.  But  I  believe 
with  others,  that  deprivations  of  office,  if  made  on  the 
ground  of  political  principles  alone,  would  revolt  our  new 
converts,  and  give  a  body  to  leaders  who  now  stand  alone. 
Some  I  know  must  be  made.  They  must  be  as  few  as 
possible,  done  gradually,  and  done  on  some  malversation, 
or  inherent  disqualification.  Where  we  shall  draw  the 
line  between  retaining  all  and  none  is  not  yet  settled,  and 
will  not  be  till  we  get  our  administration  together ;  and 
perhaps  even  then,  we  shall  proceed  a  tatons,  balancing 
our  measures  according  to  the  impression  we  perceive 
them  to  make." 

Is  there  any  ground  for  wonder,  or  even  surprise,  that 
the  federalists  withheld  their  confidence  from  a  man  who 
entertained  such  sentiments  as  these ;  and  from  whose  ad 
ministration  they  reasonably  expected  such  pernicious 
consequences  as  such  an  example,  protected  and  supported 
by  popular  delusion,  was  calculated  to  produce  —  conse 
quences  which  the  country  now  realize  in  all  their  force 
and  effect  ? 

4* 


42  THE    CHARACTER    OF 


CHAPTER    III. 

Federalists  opposed  to  Mr.  Jefferson  because  of  his  known  oppo 
sition  to  an  independent  Judiciary — Letter  to  Ritchie,  December 
25,  1820— To  Melish,  January  1813— To  Nicholas,  December, 
1813— To  Barry,  July  1822— Importance  of  Judicial  Indepen 
dence — Language  used  by  Mr.  Jefferson  on  the  subject — His 
opposition  to  Courts  manifested  in  the  prosecution  of  Burr — 
Review  of  Burr's  alleged  conspiracy,  and  the  proceedings  of  the 
government  in  relation  to  it — More  attempted  to  be  made  of  it 
than  the  facts  would  warrant — Nothing  said  about  it  by  the  Ex 
ecutive,  after  the  Message  at  the  opening  of  the  session,  until 
January  22 — Article  published  on  the  same  subject  in  the  Rich 
mond  Enquirer — Burr's  arrest  and  trial — Correspondence  rela 
ting  to  the  trial — Attack  upon  Judge  Marshall's  character — Mr. 
Jefferson's  objects  in  this  affair  political — Charges  the  Federalists 
with  favoring  Burr — Correspondence  on  the  subject — Hostility 
to  Judge  Marshall  on  the  ground  of  Burr's  acquittal. 

THE  federalists  entertained  strong  fears  of  the  effects  of 
Mr.  Jefferson's  influence  at  the  head  of  the  government, 
from  his  known  hostility  to  an  independent  judiciary. 
Placing  much  reliance  upon  that  very  important  branch  of 
the  government  as  the  expounders  of  the  constitution  and 
the  laws,  and  depending  upon  their  intelligence  and  integ 
rity  for  the  establishment  of  the  true  principles  of  both, 
they  viewed  the  absolute  independence  of  the  courts  of  all 
popular  influence  and  control,  as  an  indispensable  charac 
teristic  of  a  safe  and  useful  judiciary.  The  following  ex 
tracts  from  his  works  will  show  what  Mr.  Jefferson's  sen 
timents  on  that  subject  were.  In  a  letter  to  Thomas 
Ritchie,  dated  December  25,  1820,  he  says, — 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON. 


43 


"  The  judiciary  of  the  United  States  is  the  subtle  corps 
of  sappers  and  miners  constantly  working  under  ground 
to  undermine  the  foundations  of  our  confederated  fabric. 
They  are  construing  our  constitution  from  a  co-ordination 
of  a  general  and  special  government  to  a  general  and  su 
preme  one  alone.  This  will  lay  all  things  at  their  feet, 
and  they  are  too  well  versed  in  English  law  to  forget  the 
maxim,  "  Boni  judicis  est  ampliare  jurisdictionem."  We 
shall  see  if  they  are  bold  enough  to  take  the  daring  stride 
their  five  lawyers  have  lately  taken.  If  they  do,  then, 
with  the  editor  of  our  book  in  his  address  to  the  public,  I 
will  say,  '  that  against  this  every  man  should  raise  his 
voice,'  and  more,  should  uplift  his  arm.  Who  wrote  this 
admirable  address  ?  Sound,  luminous,  strong,  not  a  word 
too  much,  nor  one  which  can  be  changed  but  for  the 
worse.  That  pen  should  go  on,  lay  bare  these  wounds 
of  our  constitution,  expose  these  decisions  seriatim,  and 
arouse,  as  it  is  able,  the  attention  of  the  nation  to  these 
bold  speculators  on  its  patience.  Having  found  from  ex 
perience  that  impeachment  is  an  impracticable  thing,  a 
mere  scare-crow,  they  consider  themselves  secure  for  life, 
they  skulk  from  responsibility  to  public  opinion,  the  only 
remaining  hold  on  them  under  a  practice  first  introduced 
into  England  by  lord  Mansfield.  An  opinion  is  huddled 
up  in  conclave,  perhaps  by  a  majority  of  one,  delivered  as 
if  unanimous  and  with  the  silent  acquiescence  of  lazy  or 
timid  associates,  by  a  crafty  chief  judge,  who  sophisticates 
the  law  to  his  mind  by  the  turn  of  his  own  reasoning.  A 
judiciary  law  was  once  reported  by  the  attorney-general 
to  congress,  requiring  each  judge  to  deliver  his  opinion 
seriatim  and  openly,  and  then  to  give  it  in  writing  to  the 
clerk  to  be  entered  in  the  record.  A  judiciary  indepen 
dent  of  a  king  or  executive  alone,  is  a  good  thing ;  but 


44  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

independence  of  the  will  of  the  nation  is  a  solecism,  at 
least  in  a  republican  government." 

In  January,  1813,  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Melish,  makes  use  of  the  following  language:  —  "The 
party  called  republican  is  steadily  for  the  support  of  the 
present  constitution.  They  obtained  at  its  commence 
ment  all  the  amendments  to  it  they  desired.  These  rec 
onciled  them  to  it  perfectly,  and  if  they  have  any  ulterior 
views,  it  is  only,  perhaps,  to  popularize  it  further  by 
shortening  the  senatorial  term,  and  devising  a  process  for 
the  responsibility  of  judges  more  practicable  than  that  of 
impeachment." 

In  a  letter  to Nicholas,  dated  December  11,  1821, 

he  says,  "  I  fear  that  we  are  now  in  such  another  crisis, 
with  this  difference  only,  that  the  judiciary  branch  is  alone 
and  single-handed  in  the  present  assaults  on  the  constitu 
tion.  But  its  assaults  are  more  sure  and  deadly  as  from  an 
agent  seemingly  passive  and  unassuming.  May  you  and 
your  contemporaries  meet  them  with  the  same  determina 
tion  and  effect  as  your  father  and  his  did  the  alien  and 
sedition  laws,  and  preserve  inviolate  a  constitution  which, 
cherished  in  all  its  chastity  and  parity,  will  prove,  in  the 
end,  a  blessing  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth." 

In  a  letter  to  William  T.  Barry,  dated  July  2,  1822,  he 
says,  "  So  also  in  the  civil  revolution  of  1801.  Very 
many  and  very  meritorious  were  the  worthy  patriots  who 
assisted  in  bringing  back  our  government  to  its  republican 
track.  To  preserve  it  in  that  will  require  unremitting 
vigilance.  Whether  the  surrender  of  our  opponents,  their 
reception  into  our  camp,  their  assumption  of  our  name 
and  apparent  accession  to  our  objects,  may  strengthen  or 
weaken  the  genuine  principles  of  republicanism,  may  be  a 
good  or  an  evil,  is  yet  to  be  seen.  I  consider  the  party 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  45 

division  of  whig  and  tory  the  most  wholesome  which  can 
exist  in  any  government,  and  well  worthy  of  being  nour 
ished  to  keep  out  those  of  a  more  dangerous  character. 
We  already  see  the  power  installed  for  life,  responsible  to 
no  authority,  (for  impeachment  is  not  even  a  scare-crow,) 
advancing  with  a  noiseless  and  steady  pace  to  the  great 
object  of  consolidation.  The  foundations  are  already 
deeply  laid  by  their  decisions  for  the  annihilation  of  con 
stitutional  state  rights,  and  the  removal  of  every  check, 
every  counterpoise,  to  the  engulphing  power  of  which 
themselves  are  to  make  a  sovereign  part.  If  ever  this 
vast  country  is  brought  under  a  single  government  it  will 
be  one  of  the  most  extensive  corruption,  indifferent  and 
incapable  of  a  wholesome  care  over  so  wide  a  spread  of 
surface.  This  will  not  be  borne,  and  you  will  have  to 
choose  between  reformation  and  revolution.  If  I  know 
the  spirit  of  this  country,  the  one  or  the  other  is  inevitable. 
Before  the  canker  is  become  inveterate,  before  its  venom 
has  reached  so  much  of  the  body  politic  as  to  get  beyond 
control,  remedy  should  be  applied.  Let  the  future  ap 
pointment  of  judges  be  hi  four  or  six  years,  and  removable 
by  the  president  and  senate.  This  will  bring  their  con 
duct,  at  regular  periods,  under  revision  and  protection, 
and  may  keep  them  in  equipoise  between  the  general  and 
special  governments.  We  have  erred  in  this  point  by 
copying  England,  where  certainly  it  is  a  good  thing  to 
have  the  judges  independent  of  the  king.  But  we  have 
omitted  to  copy  their  caution  also,  which  makes  a  judge 
removable  on  the  address  of  both. legislative  houses.  That 
there  should  be  public  functionaries  independent  of  the 
nation,  whatever  may  be  their  demerit,  is  a  solecism  in  a 
republic  of  the  first  order  of  absurdity  and  inconsistency." 


46  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

These  were  Mr.  Jefferson's  sentiments  down  almost  to 
the  close  of  his  life ;  the  last  letter  from  which  they  have 
been  taken  was  written  only  four  years  before  that  event. 
Finding  in  it  the  same  general  spirit  of  hostility  to  an  in 
dependent  judiciary,  it  is  fair  to  conclude  that  the  feeling 
formed  a  part  of  the  constitution  of  his  mind.  As  popular 
applause  was  the  idol  of  his  life,  he  would  gladly  have 
subjected  courts  to  the  most  dangerous  and  most  mis 
chievous  of  all  the  great  variety  of  influences  which  could 
assail  them,  viz:  popular  caprice  and  popular  passion. 
The  human  mind  cannot  conceive  a  good  reason  for  bring 
ing  courts  under  this  species  of  control.  When  the  con 
stitution  was  formed,  the  enlightened  and  virtuous  patriots 
and  statesmen  who  framed  it,  and  the  people  by  whom  it 
was  afterwards  adopted  and  established,  considered  the 
independence  of  that  great  branch  of  the  government  as 
an  article  of  fundamental  importance.  Without  a  pro 
vision  for  that  purpose  there  is  very  little  probability  that 
it  would  have  been  adopted.  Without  it,  it  would  have 
been  comparatively  of  but  little  value.  But  instead  of  in 
telligent,  upright,  independent  and  fearless  courts,  Mr. 
Jefferson  would  have  subjected  them  to  the  fluctuations  of 
popular  opinion  and  party  passion,  subject  to  the  changes 
of  political  divisions,  and  liable  to  be  called  to  account  for 
any  and  every  decision  which  should  prove  to  be  obnox 
ious  to  the  feelings  of  a  rabble,  and  to  be  displaced  from 
office  at  the  demand  of  a  mob.  For  these  are  the  usual, 
and  it  may  be  added  the  only  modes  in  which  popular 
opinion  can  be  formed  into  a  court  of  impeachment,  to 
arraign,  try  and  determine  on  the  conduct  and  qualifi 
cations  of  judges.  Without  an  independent  judiciary, 
where  the  laws  will  be  faithfully  and  intelligently  ex- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  47 

pounded  and  justice  impartially  and  fearlessly  adminis 
tered,  the  rights  and  liberties  of  no  country  can  be  safe, 
but  injustice,  oppression  and  tyranny  will  inevitably  prevail. 

Such  was  the  animosity  of  Mr.  Jefferson  to  the  supreme 
court,  that  in  giving  vent  to  his  feelings,  he  makes  use  not 
merely  of  loose,  but  even  contradictory  expressions.  He 
says,  "  the  party  called  republican  is  steadily  for  the  sup 
port  of  the  present  constitution.  They  obtained  at  its 
commencement  all  the  amendments  to  it  they  desired. 
These  reconciled  them  to  it  perfectly,  and  if  they  have  any 
ulterior  views,  it  is  only  perhaps  to  popularize  it  further 
by  shortening  the  senatorial  term,  and  devising  a  process 
.for  the  responsibility  of  the  judges,  more  practicable  than 
that  of  impeachment."  If  the  party  called  republican  had 
obtained  all  the  amendments  they  wished,  and  were  per 
fectly  satisfied  with  the  constitution,  it  is  a  little  remarka 
ble  that  they  should  be  desirous  of  amending  it  a  little 
more ;  and  especially  in  two  such  material  particulars  as 
those  here  mentioned. 

But  Mr.  Jefferson's  hostility  to  an  independent  judiciary, 
was,  if  possible,  more  strikingly  manifested  in  the  course  of 
the  judicial  proceedings  which  were  instituted  against 
Aaron  Burr,  after  the  suppression  of  what  at  the  time  was 
called  an  insurrection  against  the  government  of  the  United 
States.  That  event,  whatever  was  its  real  nature  or  its 
object,  has  in  a  good  degree  passed  out  of  mind.  But  it 
may  be  useful,  in  giving  these  various  traits  of  Mr.  Jeffer 
son's  character,  to  relate  some  historical  facts  connected 
with  it,  as  having  a  tendency  to  elucidate  the  peculiarity 
of  his  genius,  and  the  means  which  he  could  use  for  the 
accomplishment  of  a  favorite  object. 

It  is  well  known  that  Burr,  who  during  the  first  four 
years  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  administration  was  vice  president 


48  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

of  the  United  States,  was,  at  a  subsequent  period,  charged 
by  him  with  treasonable  operations  against  the  national  gov 
ernment  and  Union.  The  events  on  which  this  charge  was 
founded,  occurred  in  the  year  1806.  This  was  considered 
as  an  object  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  introduced,  in 
very  general  terms  however,  into  the  president's  message 
at  the  opening  of  the  session  of  congress  of  December  of 
that  year ;  and  to  form  the  subject  of  a  more  special  com 
munication  in  the  month  of  January  following.  Still  later 
in  the  session,  Messrs.  Boliman  and  Swartwout,  who  had 
been  arrested  at  New  Orleans  as  joint  conspirators  with 
Burr,  were  brought  as  state  prisoners  to  the  city  of  Wash 
ington,  and  held  for  sometime  in  custody  on  the  charge  of 
treason.  Two  other  individuals,  Ogden  and  Alexander, 
were  also  arrested  at  New  Orleans  and  transported  to 
Baltimore,  as  accomplices  in  the  same  offence.  The  two 
former,  after  being  imprisoned  for  some  time  on  the  charge 
of  treason,  by  order  of  the  circuit  court  of  the  district  of 
Columbia,  were  discharged  from  confinement  by  the  su 
preme  court  of  the  United  States,  on  the  ground  that  the 
proof  adduced  of  treasonable  conduct  was  not  sufficient 
to  hold  them  in  prison  on  that  charge.  Ogden  was  taken 
before  a  state  magistrate  at  Baltimore,  and  discharged  for 
the  want  of  proof  of  any  offence ;  and  Alexander,  who 
was  carried  to  Washington,  was  released  because  no  accu 
sation  was  made  against  him.  Subsequently,  Burr  was 
apprehended,  taken  to  Richmond,  in  Virginia,  where,  af 
ter  a  labored  trial,  he  was  acquitted  by  the  jury. 

Thus,  it  happened,  after  the  union  had  been  kept  for 
nearly  a  year  in  a  state  of  fermentation,  and  no  less  than 
five  persons  had  been  arrested  and  transported,  either  by 
land  or  by  water,  many  hundreds  of  miles,  accused  of 
treason,  while  the  public  feelings  were  kept  for  a  long  pe- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  49 

riod  in  a  state  of  impassioned  excitement,  the  very  extra 
ordinary  circumstance  took  place,  notwithstanding  the 
most  unwearied  exertions  of  the  executive  branch  of  the 
government  to  subject  the  persons  accused  to  the  penalties 
of  the  law,  that  not  a  single  individual  was  ever  convicted 
of  any  offence,  of  any  description,  connected  with  this  al 
leged  conspiracy  against  the  liberties  of  the  country. 

That  much  more  was  attempted  to  be  made  out  of  it 
than  the  truth  would  warrant  is  evident  from  the  facts 
that  have  just  been  mentioned.  That  Mr.  Jefferson  was 
actuated  by  other  motives  than  a  mere  regard  to  the  safety 
of  the  union  and  the  constitution  can  hardly  be  question 
ed,  now  the  parties  and  the  policy  which  were  involved  in 
the  controversy  have  passed  away.  That  he  had  in  this, 
and  in  all  other  cases,  a  higher  regard  to  his  own  feelings 
and  interests  than  to  those  of  his  country  and  its  govern 
ment,  does  not  admit  of  a  reasonable  doubt.  The  follow 
ing  document,  though  in  form  unofficial,  may  be  consider 
ed  as  having  proceeded  from  executive  authority.  It  was 
published  at  Richmond  on  the  same  day  that  the  presi 
dent's  message  respecting  "  Burr's  conspiracy  "  was  deliv 
ered  to  the  house  of  representatives  at  Washington.  That 
the  proceedings  of  that  department  in  regard  to  this  sub 
ject  were  calculated  for  political  effect  cannot  be  doubted. 
That  the  arrests  which  have  been  mentioned  were  plan 
ned  beforehand,  and  were  intended  to  produce  or  at  least  to 
heighten  the  general  impression  expected  from  the  "  con 
spiracy,"  will  satisfactorily  appear  from  what  follows. 

After  the  delivery  of  the  message  at  the  opening  of  the 
session  of  congress  in  December,  1806,  no  information  of 
any  moment  was  communicated  to  congress  from  the 
executive  on  that  subject,  until  late  in  the  month  of  Janua 
ry  following.  At  the  same  time,  rumors  were  in  constant 
5 


50  THE    CHARACTER   OF 

circulation  at  the  seat  of  government  respecting  the  pro 
gress  of  the  conspirators  and  the  formidable  nature  of  the 
conspiracy.  At  length,  on  the  16th  of  January,  a  resolu 
tion  was  adopted  by  the  house  of  representatives,  by  a 
vote  of  109  to  14,  calling  upon  the  president  for  informa 
tion  respecting  the  alleged  combination  against  the  peace 
and  safety  of  the  Union.  The  minority  of  fourteen  was 
composed  exclusively  of  the  devoted  friends  and  partizans 
of  the  administration.  On  the  22d  of  January,  a  message 
containing,  professedly,  a  historical  account  of  Burr's  pro 
ceedings,  from  their  commencement  to  the  date  of  the 
message,  so  far  as  the  executive  thought  it  proper  to  dis 
close  them,  was  sent  to  the  house  of  representatives.  On 
the  same  day  an  article  was  published  in  a  newspaper, 
called  the  Enquirer,  at  Richmond,  Virginia,  which  is  re 
cited  at  length  herein,  as  tending  to  disclose  some  facts 
not  generally  known  relating  to  this  "  insurrection." 
Everything  of  any  importance  in  the  official  message  to 
the  house  of  representatives  is  to  be  found  in  this  article, 
and  some  very  material  ones  in  the  latter  which  are  not 
contained  in  the  former.  This  will  convince  every  mind 
that  the  newspaper  document  proceeded  from  the  cabinet; 
and  the  facts  stated  in  it  will  probably  satisfy  most  people, 
that  personal  feelings  and  politics  were  intimately  connect 
ed  with  Mr.  Jefferson's  conduct  in  relation  to  this  famed 
transaction. 

[From  the  Richmond  Enquirer,  Jan.  22,  1807.] 
"  BURR'S  CONSPIRACY.  The  following  letter  casts  more 
pure  light  upon  the  conspiracy  of  Aaron  Burr,  than  any 
communication  which  has  yet  been  published.  It  is  de 
rived  from  the  same  *  high  authority '  as  the  letter  which 
appeared  two  weeks  since  in  the  Enquirer,  on  the  same 
subject." 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  51 

"  WASHINGTON,  Jan.  15,  1807. 

"  I  hasten  to  communicate  to  you  the  information 
brought  from  Kentucky  and  New  Orleans  by  a  mail 
which  arrived  here  yesterday.  It  has  taken  me  half  a 
day  to  collect  from  the  different  persons  who  have  receiv 
ed  letters,  the  intelligence  contained  in  them.  I  shall  not 
take  time  to  digest  it  into  any  order,  but  I  am  satisfied  I 
need  not  hesitate  to  rely  on  the  interest  it  will  excite. 

"  There  is  no  account  of  any  seizures  having  been  made 
upon  the  Ohio,  since  that  of  the  Muskingum  flotilla, 
nor  can  it  be  said  with  certainty  that  the  boats  under 
Blannerhasset  and  Tyler,  which  left  the  neighborhood  of 
Marietta  with  great  precipitance  upon  the  first  alarm  given 
them  by  the  government  of  Ohio,  have  not  passed  Cincin 
nati,  notwithstanding  the  prompt  and  decisive  measures 
taken  by  governor  Tiffin  to  intercept  them  there,  and  com 
pletely  effected  their  escape  from  that  slate.  Mr.  Graham, 
after  having  given  the  information  he  had  collected  to  the 
legislature  of  Ohio,  which  received  him  and  then  closed 
its  doors,  and  after  having  witnessed  the  prompt  and  vig 
orous  measures,  both  legislative  and  executive,  which  his 
disclosures  produced,  immediately  repaired  to  Kentucky, 
the  legislature  of  which  state  was  in  session  at  his  arrival. 
He  was  admitted  to  a  private  meeting  of  that  body,  to 
which  he  made  the  same  discoveries.  The  same  measures 
followed  with  equal  zeal  and  dispatch.  Precisely  the 
same  law  passed  without  delay,  and  parties  of  militia  were 
immediately  ordered  to  Louisville,  to  the  mouth  of  Trade- 
water,  and  the  mouth  of  Cumberland  river  and  Tennessee, 
for  the  purpose  of  stopping  and  detaining  all  boats  and  all 
persons  passing  downwards.  The  militia  moved  with 
alacrity,  and  the  loyalty  of  the  state  became  at  once  as  it 
was  before  asserted  by  its  representatives  here  to  be  steady 


52  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

and  strong.     Nothing  of  the  operations  of  these  parties  has 
yet  reached  this  place. 

"  The  name  of  Graham  being  mentioned,  it  is  requisite 
to  give  you  some  information  about  that  person.  He  is  the 
same  who  was  formerly  secretary  of  legation  to  Spain,  and 
is  now  secretary  to  the  territorial  government  of  Orleans. 
Being  accidentally  in  this  place  during  the  first  days  of 
November  last,  he  received  from  the  executive,  which  had 
full  confidence  in  his  integrity,  discretion  and  constancy, 
private  instructions,  with  a  secret  authority  and  creden 
tials,  to  follow  the  footsteps  of  colonel  Burr  and  his  lead 
ing  partizans,  to  notice  their  measures,  to  endeavor  to  dis 
cover  their  views,  and  if  possible,  to  get  full  possession  of 
their  plan  of  operations.  Such  was  his  prudence  and 
dexterity  that  he  was  never  suspected,  and  overtures  were 
even  made  to  him  by  Blannerhasset  and  others  to  join 
them  in  the  scheme.  The  result  of  his  labors  and  the 
substance  of  his  communication  to  the  legislatures  of  Ohio 
and  Kentucky  is,  that  the  armament  was  destined  in  the 
first  place  against  New  Orleans,  the  wealth  of  which  was 
to  be  seized  and  made  use  of  to  allure  adventurers  from 
all  parts  for  an  expedition  against  Mexico,  which  colonel 
Burr  hoped  to  overrun,  and  by  the  influence  of  the  gold 
and  silver  he  would  acquire  over  the  needy  and  the  bold 
in  the  United  States,  in  the  islands,  and  in  the  country  of 
Mexico  itself,  effectually  to  subdue  and  finally  to  convert 
it  into  a  kingdom  for  himself. 

"  The  success  of  the  freebooters  in  their  repeated  incur 
sions  into  the  wealthier  parts  of  the  Spanish  territories, 
on  either  side  of  the  Isthmus,  about  the  close  of  the  seven 
teenth  century,  was  sufficient  to  inspire  with  such  a  de 
sign  a  mind  so  daring,  so  lofty,  and  so  desperate  as  that  of 
colonel  Burr.  He  no  doubt  believed,  that  if  Morgan  had 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  53 

been  such  a  man  as  himself,  he  would  never  have  quitted 
Panama,  but  would  have  extended  and  organized  his  con 
quests,  and  established  a  Welch  dynasty  in  the  richest 
country  in  America. 

"  That  this  was  his  ultimate  design,  and  was  the  real 
line  to  his  followers,  there  can  be  no  question.  In  order 
to  mask  the  grand  scheme,  he  assumed  several  lesser 
plans,  which  were  perhaps  altogether  feigned.  He  held 
out  to  the  partizans  of  Spain,  that  his  view  was  to  restore 
Louisiana  to  its  ancient  proprietors,  and  he  had  commenced 
a  deep  intrigue  upon  the  Missouri,  to  alienate  the  people  of 
that  territory  from  the  United  States  of  which  there  is  proof 
in  a  deposition  of  the  sheriff  of  St.  Charles,  transmitted  to 
me  by  a  friend  in  that  country,  and  now  in  my  possession. 

"  He  assured  the  people  of  the  Ohio  river,  when  he  did 
not  expect  to  engage  them  in  his  service,  that  his  design 
was  to  colonize  the  tract  of  country  twenty-five  miles 
square  upon  the  Washita  and  Red  river,  which  had  been 
granted  by  a  Spanish  governor  to  a  German  in  the  Span 
ish  service,  and  had  been  purchased,  he  said,  by  himself 
in  partnership  with  others.  He  observed  that  the  persons 
he  had  engaged  were  bound  to  perform  military  service, 
because  war  with  Spain  was  inevitable.  That  he  had  for 
that  reason  directed  them  to  leave  behind  for  one  year,  all 
their  female  connections,  and  had  prepared  arms  and  mili 
tary  stores,  with  provisions  for  a  length  of  time,  in  order 
to  be  ready  to  bring  a  strong  auxiliary  force  into  the  field 
in  behalf  of  his  country  if  occasion  should  require.  He 
gave  the  most  solemn  assurances,  of  which  there  is  writ 
ten  proof  in  possession  of  a  gentleman  lately  appoint 
ed  to  the  senate  from  Kentucky,  that  his  scheme  was 
viewed  with  the  greatest  satisfaction  by  the  executive  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States,  because  it  resembled  their 
5* 


54  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

favorite  plan  of  creating  a  military  colony  upon  the  south 
western  frontier,  by  giving  a  bounty  in  lands  to  able  bodi 
ed  men  who  would  settle  immediately,  and  engage  to  per 
form  military  service  for  so  many  years ;  which  plan  the 
legislature  had  not  sanctioned. 

"  This  he  used  with  some  effect,  but  sacrificed  forever, 
his  former  reputation  for  veracity,  which  with  the  world 
has  been  unimpaired  until  now,  although  it  is  now  said,  it 
was  long  ago  blasted  with  his  acquaintance. 

"  I  do  not  hesitate  to  pronounce,  that  his  designs  are 
completely  frustrated.  Should  that  part  of  his  flotilla, 
which  once  escaped  governor  Tiffin,  have  continued  fortu 
nate  in  escaping  him  again  at  Cincinnati,  and  in  passing 
the  Kentucky  militia;  should  the  boats  built  upon  the 
Cumberland  river,  and  the  Tennessee,  be  lucky  enough  to 
form  a  junction  with  it,  and  the  whole  proceed  down  the 
Mississippi,  and  all  this  is  rendered  too  probable  by  the  date 
of  events  and  the  discontinuance  of  the  accounts  of  seiz 
ures,  still  their  capture  is  certain. 

"  By  letters  from  New  Orleans,  as  late  as  the  9th  of 
December,  which  arrived  yesterday,  accounts  are  brought 
of  the  exertions  of  general  Wilkinson  and  governor  Clai- 
borne,  to  prepare  for  the  defence  of  that  place  against  at 
tacks  from  the  side  of  the  sea,  not  the  river. 

"  All  the  gun  vessels  of  the  United  States  in  that  quar 
ter  were  in  the  river,  and  were  advancing  up  it. 

"  The  regular  army  of  the  United  States  had  returned 
again  to  the  Mississippi,  and  had  arrived  in  New  Orleans. 

"  The  militia  of  that  city  were  in  motion. 

"  The  French  inhabitants  had  displayed  a  zeal  and 
spirit  in  their  loyalty  which  renders  them  worthy  of  their 
new  country. 

"  General  Wilkinson  and  governor  Claiborne  had  con- 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  55 

vened  the  merchants  of  New  Orleans,  in  full  assembly. 
The  former,  in  an  animated  address,  after  denouncing 
colonel  Burr,  exhorted  them  to  assist  him  in  his  efforts 
for  the  defence  of  their  city,  and  solemnly  swore,  in  the 
enthusiastic  style  peculiar  to  him,  that  if  it  were  taken  by 
the  vessels  he  would  perish  in  the  endeavor  to  repel  the 
assault.  The  meeting  adopted,  unanimously,  some  spirit 
ed  and  patriotic  resolutions. 

"  The  governor  was  requested  by  those  who  would  be 
the  first  sufferers  by  the  measure,  to  lay  an  embargo  im 
mediately,  which  he  did  without  hesitation. 

"  A  considerable  sum  was  subscribed  to  be  distributed 
as  bounty  among  the  sailors  who  would  engage  to  serve 
on  board  the  ships. 

"  Many  of  the  guns  of  the  city  were  placed  upon  the 
merchantmen  in  the  river,  and  a  respectable  fleet  was  sud 
denly  formed  to  repel  one  which  was  expected  from  the 
West  Indies. 

"  It  is  by  no  means  certain  that  there  is  any  ground  at 
all  for  this  apprehension.  Colonel  Burr,  when  he  made 
proposals  to  general  Wilkinson  to  join  in  the  scheme,  as 
sured  him  that  the  late  commodore  Truxton  was  in  Ja 
maica  collecting  a  fleet  to  meet  them  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi.  This  is  one  of  the  numerous  dishonorable 
falsehoods  of  that  deluded  man.  Truxton  had  too  much 
regard  for  his  former  reputation,  and  too  much  honor  to 
engage  in  this  affair.  He  communicated  at  once  the  pro 
posals  made  to  him,  and  remains  still  on  his  farm,  near 
Amboy  in  Jersey. 

"  Perhaps  the  falsehood  may  extend  no  farther  than  the 
name  of  Truxton,  and  some  of  Miranda's  vessels  may  be 
expected,  but  more  probably  the  whole  is  false. 

"Colonel   Burr,  by  the  last  accounts,  was  still  at  the 


56  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

house  of  general  Jackson,  in  Tennessee,  who  entertained 
him  without  the  smallest  suspicion  of  his  treasonable  con 
duct. 

"  A  pilot  boat  has  been  lately  despatched  from  New 
York;  it  is  conjectured  to  meet  him  somewhere  on  the 
coast  of  Florida  and  take  him  off.  Information  of  the 
sailing  of  this  boat  has  been  forwarded  to  general  Wilkin 
son.  I  am  inclined,  myself,  to  think  that  he  will  not  go 
to  the  coast  lest  he  should  be  apprehended  by  the  Span 
iards.  He  cannot  venture  to  New  Orleans,  for  he  must 
have  learned  of  the  arrest  of  his  accomplices  by  general 
Wilkinson,  which  was  to  have  taken  place  about  the  12th 
of  December,,  soon  after  which  they  were  to  be  shipped 
for  this  place. 

"  Those  men  on  the  9th  remained  still  ignorant  that 
they  were  to  be  apprehended  as  traitors,  and  thought 
themselves  safe  in  having  separated  so  early  from  their 
chief,  although  they  had  acted  under  his  authority  in 
descending  the  river.  I  am  disposed  to  conjecture  that 
colonel  Burr  will  endeavor  to  meet  such  of  his  boats 
as  may  have  escaped  somewhere  on  the  Mississippi, 
above  general  Wilkinson's  advanced  party,  and  will  place 
himself  in  the  centre  of  baron  Bastrop's  grant,  with  the 
view  to  maintain  boldly  that  he  never  had  any  other 
scheme  in  agitation. 

"  Should  this  be  his  resolution  it  will  be  extremely  dif 
ficult  for  justice  to  pursue  him  with  effect  through  all  his 
wily  doublings.  When  he  has  conversed  upon  the  sub 
ject  of  his  expedition,  he  has  been  so  artful  in  blending  all 
his  different  plans  together,  that  it  is  not  probable  he  has 
committed  himself  in  discourses  so  fully  as  to  produce  his 
own  conviction.  When  he  has  written  without  disguising 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  57 

his  matter,  he  has  always  used  cyphers.  Unless  some  of 
his  accomplices  will  confess,  it  will  be  doubtful  how  the 
trial  will  terminate. 

"  There  is  no  certainty  yet  as  to  the  source  from  which 
he  has  derived  his  funds.  My  own  conjecture  rests 
where  it  did  from  the  commencement,  upon  the  late 
Spanish  ambassador,  as  to  the  largest  portion  of  them ; 
upon  the  force  of  party  zeal  in  certain  characters,  and 
upon  individual  resentment  and  desire  of  revenge,  per 
haps,  for  some  small  aids  in  addition. 

"  I  have  no  time  to  make  observations,  or  I  should  take 
pleasure  in  expatiating  upon  the  value  of  this  glorious  ex 
ample  of  rebellion,  suppressed  without  expense  of  blood  or 
treasure,  in  strengthening  the  affection  and  confidence  of 
the  friends  of  our  republican  system,  and  in  lessening  the 
distrust  of  others." 

Having  succeeded  in  arresting  Burr,  and  bringing  him 
for  trial  within  reach  of  executive  exertion  and  influence, 
every  effort  that  human  ingenuity  could  devise,  or  a  spirit 
of  vindictive  resentment  could  make  use  of  to  insure  a 
conviction,  was  brought  into  exercise.  The  well-known 
and  universally  acknowledged  principles  of  law  regulating 
trials  for  criminal  offences,  were  spurned  and  scouted  by 
Mr.  Jefferson ;  chief-justice  Marshall  having  thought  prop 
er  to  apply  those  principles  to  the  case  of  this  state  pris 
oner,  was  reviled  and  calumniated  in  a  coarse  and  ungen- 
tlemanly  manner  by  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  nation. 
These  facts  will  abundantly  appear  from  a  steady  and  an 
imated  correspondence  which  Mr.  Jefferson  kept  up  with 
the  prosecuting  attorney  for  the  district  of  Virginia,  during 
Burr's  confinement  and  trial.  The  following  extracts  will 
show  the  great  length  to  which  he  suffered  himself  to  bo 
carried  by  his  feelings  in  relation  to  this  subject, 


58  THE  CHARACTER  OF 

In  a  letter  to  William  B.  Giles,  dated  April  20,  1807, 
Mr.  Jefferson  says  —  "  That  there  should  be  anxiety  and 
doubt  in  the  public  mind  in  the  present  defective  state  of 
the  proof,  is  not  wonderful ;  and  this  has  been  sedulously 
encouraged  by  the  tricks  of  the  judges  to  force  trials  before 
it  is  possible  to  collect  the  evidence,  dispersed  through  a 
line  of  two  thousand  miles  from  Maine  to  Orleans" 

"  The  first  ground  of  complaint  was  the  supine  inatten 
tion  of  the  administration  to  a  treason  stalking  through 
the  land  in  open  day.  The  present  one,  that  they  have 
crushed  it  before  it  was  ripe  for  execution,  so  that  no  overt 
acts  can  be  produced.  This  last  may  be  true  ;  though  I 
believe  it  is  not.  Our  information  having  been  chiefly  by 
way  of  letter,  we  do  not  know  of  a  certainty  yet  what  will 
be  proved.  We  have  set  on  foot  an  inquiry  through  the 
whole  of  the  country  which  has  been  the  scene  of  these 
transactions,  to  be  able  to  prove  to  the  courts,  if  they  will 
give  time,  or  to  the  public  by  way  of  communication  to 
congress  what  the  real  facts  have  been.  For  obtaining 
this,  we  are  obliged  to  appeal  to  the  patriotism  of  particu 
lar  persons  in  different  places,  of  whom  we  have  requested 
to  make  the  inquiry  in  their  neighborhood,  and  on  such 
information  as  shall  be  voluntarily  offered.  Aided  by  no 
process  or  facilities  from  the  federal  courts,  but  frowned 
on  by  their  new-born  zeal  for  the  liberty  of  those  whom 
we  would  not  permit  to  overthrow  the  liberties  of  their 
country,  we  can  expect  no  revealments  from  the  accom 
plices  of  the  chief  offender.  Of  treasonable  intentions, 
the  judges  have  been  obliged  to  confess  there  is  probable 
appearance.  What  loop-hole  they  will  find  in  the  case 
when  it  comes  to  trial,  we  cannot  foresee.  Eaton,  Stod- 
dart,  Wilkinson,  and  two  others  whom  I  must  not  name, 
will  satisfy  the  world,  if  not  the  judges,  of  Burr's  guilt." 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  59 

"  But  a  moment's  calculation  will  show  that  this  evi 
dence  cannot  be  collected  under  four  months,  probably 
five,  from  the  moment  of  deciding  when  and  where  the 
trial  shall  be.  I  desired  Mr.  Rodney  expressly  to  inform 
the  chief  justice  of  this,  inofficially.  But  Mr.  Marshall 
says,  '  more  than  five  weeks  have  elapsed  since  the  opin 
ion  of  the  supreme  court  has  declared  the  necessity  of 
proving  the  overt  acts,  if  they  exist.  Why  are  they  not 
proved  ? '  In  what  terms  of  decency  can  we  speak  of  this  ? 
As  if  an  express  could  go  to  Natchez  or  the  mouth  of  Cum 
berland  and  return  in  five  weeks,  to  do  which  has  never 
taken  less  than  twelve.  Again,  '  If,  in  November  or  De 
cember  last,  a  body  of  troops  had  been  assembled  on  the 
Ohio,  it  is  impossible  to  suppose  the  affidavits  establishing 
the  fact  could  not  have  been  obtained  by  the  last  of  March.' 
But  I  ask  the  judge  where  they  should  have  been  lodged  ? 
At  Frankfort?  at  Cincinnati?  at  Nashville?  St.  Louis? 
Natchez  ?  New  Orleans  ?  These  were  the  probable  places 
of  apprehension  and  examination.  It  was  not  known  at 
Washington  until  the  26th  of  March,  that  Burr  would 
escape  from  the  western  tribunals,  be  retaken,  and  brought 
to  an  eastern  one :  and  in  five  days  after  (neither  five 
months  nor  five  weeks  as  the  judge  calculated)  he  says, 
it  is  *  impossible  to  suppose  the  affidavits  could  not  have 
been  obtained.'  Where  ?  At  Richmond  he  certainly 
meant,  or  meant  only  to  throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  his  au 
dience.  But  all  the  principles  of  law  are  to  be  perverted 
which  could  bear  on  the  favorite  offenders,  who  endeavor 
to  overturn  this  odious  republic.  '  I  understand,'  says 
the  judge,  'probable  cause  of  guilt  to  be  a  case  made  out 
by  proof,  furnishing  good  reason  to  believe,'  &c.  Speak 
ing  as  a  lawyer,  he  must  mean  legal  proof,  i.  e.  proof  on 
oath,  at  least.  But  this  is  confounding  probability  and 


60  THE   CHARACTER  OF 

proof.  We  had  always  before  understood  that  where 
there  was  reasonable  ground  to  believe  guilt,  the  offender 
must  be  put  on  his  trial.  That  guilty  intentions  were  proba 
ble,  the  judge  believed.  And  as  to  the  overt  acts,  were  not 
the  bundle  of  letters  of  information  in  Mr.  Rodney's  hands, 
the  letters  and  facts  published  in  the  newspapers,  Burr's 
flight,  and  the  universal  belief  or  rumor  of  his  guilt,  proba 
ble  ground  for  presuming  the  facts  of  enlistment,  military 
guard,  rendezvous,  threat  of  civil  war  or  capitulation,  so 
as  to  put  him  on  trial  ?  Is  there  a  candid  man  in  the 
United  States  who  does  not  believe  some  one  if  not  all  of 
these  overt  acts  to  have  taken  place  ? 

"  If  there  ever  had  been  an  instance  in  this  or  the  pre 
ceding  administrations,  of  federal  judges  so  applying 
principles  of  law  as  to  condemn  a  federal  or  acquit  a 
republican  offender,  I  should  have  judged  them  in  the 
present  case  with  more  charity.  All  this,  however,  will 
work  well.  The  nation  will  judge  both  the  offender  and 
judges  for  themselves.  If  a  member  of  the  executive  or 
legislature  does  wrong,  the  day  is  never  far  distant  when 
the  people  will  remove  him.  They  will  see  then,  and 
amend  the  error  in  our  constitution  which  makes  any 
branch  independent  of  the  nation.  They  will  see  that  one 
of  the  great  co-ordinate  branches  of  the  government,  set 
ting  itself  in  opposition  to  the  other  two,  and  to  the  com 
mon  sense  of  the  nation,  proclaims  impunity  to  that  class 
of  offenders  which  endeavors  to  overturn  the  constitution, 
and  are  themselves  protected  in  it  by  the  constitution  it 
self:  for  impeachment  is  a  farce  which  will  not  be  tried 
again.  If  their  protection  of  Burr  produces  this  amend 
ment,  it  will  do  more  good  than  his  condemnation  would 
have  done." 

The  attack  here  made  upon  judge  Marshall,  who  tried 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  61 

Burr,  appears  to  be  upon  the  alleged  charge,  that  he  hur 
ried  the  trial  on  before  the  government  had  a  fair  opportu 
nity  to  make  the  necessary  preparation ;  and  the  sugges 
tion  is  clearly  made  that  this  proceeded  from  a  disposition 
to  screen  him  from  justice.  That  Mr.  Jefferson  was  de 
sirous  not  only  of  punishing,  but  of  crushing  the  man  who 
was  his  competitor  for  the  office  of  president,  before  the 
house  of  representatives,  is  very  apparent.  That  he  wish 
ed  to  turn  the  case  not  only  against  the  court,  but  against 
the  federalists,  is  equally  clear*  And  vindictive  as  his 
feelings  towards  Burr  obviously  were,  there  is  no  room  to 
doubt  that  he  was  quite  as  anxious  for  the  political  effect 
which  he  was  endeavoring  to  produce,  as  he  was  that  jus 
tice  should  be  faithfully  administered. 

The  truth  undoubtedly  was,  that  he  had  taken  up  Burr 
more  upon  the  ground  of  suspicion  than  on  that  of  sub 
stantial  proof,  and  he  was  irritated  at  the  course  pursued 
by  the  court  in  applying  the  plain  principles  of  law  to  his 
case,  as  would  have  been  done  in  that  of  an  ordinary  in 
dividual  brought  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  for 
trial  for  a  criminal  offence.  He  says  the  information  he 
had  received  was  chiefly  by  way  of  letter,  and  that  he  did 
not  know  to  a  certainty  what  would  be  proved  —  that  he 
had  set  on  foot  an  inquiry  through  the  whole  scene  of 
Burr's  transactions,  in  order  to  prove  to  the  courts  if  they 
would  give  time,  or  to  congress  and  the  public  if  they 
would  not,  what  the  real  facts  had  been.  It  is  then  per 
fectly  clear,  in  the  first  place,  that  he  had  not  procured  his 
proofs,  and  in  the  second,  that  he  did  not  even  know  what 
facts  had  occurred  which  he  could  charge  against  the  ac 
cused.  Can  any  man  wonder  that  judge  Marshall  did  not 
think  proper  to  put  off  the  trial,  and  hold  the  prisoner 
in  custody  for  four  months,  which  is  the  shortest  period 
6 


O*  THE   CHARACTER  OF 

mentioned  by  Mr.  Jefferson  as  necessary  to  ascertain  the 
facts  and  collect  the  evidence  to  support  them,  merely  to 
give  him  time  to  make  out  and  support  the  charges  ?  Mr. 
Jefferson  was  bred  a  lawyer;  and  he  need  not  have 
gained  anything  more  than  a  very  moderate  degree  of 
acquaintance  with  the  principles  of  law  and  the  prac 
tice  of  courts  to  have  ascertained  that  no  court  could  have 
postponed  a  trial  on  such  grounds  as  were  urged  by  him. 
No  man  is  justified  in  bringing  any  person  before  even  a 
grand-jury,  much  more^  before  a  court,  without  having 
previously  ascertained  that  at  least  an  offence  had  been 
committed,  and  that  witnesses  to  prove  it  could  be  obtain 
ed.  If  these  witnesses  could  not  be  produced  at  the  out 
set,  proof  of  their  absence  or  other  sufficient  cause  for 
their  not  being  present  must  be  adduced,  in  which  their 
names  must  be  specified  and  the  importance  of  their  testi 
mony  be  regularly  sworn  to.  But  no  well  regulated  tri 
bunal  ever  postponed  a  trial,  and  held  a  culprit  in  prison 
in  the  mean  time,  in  order  to  give  the  prosecutor  time  and 
opportunity  to  scour  a  thousand  or  two  miles  of  country  to 
hunt  up  grounds  of  accusation  and  evidence  to  substan 
tiate  them. 

The  truth  unquestionably  was  in  this  case,  as  in  all  others 
•susceptible  of  such  a  direction,  he  wished  so  to  conduct 
the  controversy  with  Burr,  both  in  the  country  and  in  the 
court,  as  to  produce  a  political  effect  beneficial  to  himself 
and  his  party  views  and  interests.  He  had  set  on  foot  an 
inquiry  in  order  to  prove  facts  not  only  to  the  courts,  but 
to  the  public,  through  the  medium  of  communications  to 
congress.  In  doing  this,  he  complains  not  only  of  not  be 
ing  aided  by  process  or  facilities  from  the  federal  courts, 
but  of  being  frowned  upon  by  the  new-born  zeal  of  those 
courts  for  the  liberty  of  those  whom  he  would  not  suffer  to 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  63 

overthrow  the  liberties  of  their  country.  A  more  unfound 
ed  and  malicious  charge  was  never  alleged  or  insinuated 
against  any  man,  much  more  against  as  upright,  intelligent 
and  virtuous  a  judge  as  ever  adorned  the  bench  of  justice. 
Not  content  with  this,  he  proceeds  to  make  a  specific 
charge  against  judge  Marshall.  "  But,"  says  he,  "all  the 
principles  of  law  are  to  be  perverted  which  would  bear  on 
the  favorite  offenders  who  endeavor  to  overturn  this  odi 
ous  republic." 

Conscious  of  the  grossness  of  his  charges  against  the 
chief  justice,  he  endeavors  by  a  suggestion  equally  gross 
to  justify  himself  by  a  reference  to  the  previous  conduct  of 
the  court.  "  If,"  says  he,  "  there  had  ever  been  an  in 
stance,  in  this  or  the  preceding  administrations,  of  federal 
judges  so  applying  principles  of  law  as  to  condemn  a 
federal  or  acquit  a  republican  offender,  I  should  have  judg 
ed  them  in  the  present  case  with  more  charity.  All  this-, 
however,  will  work  well."  There  is  some  consolation,  un 
der  all  these  trials  of  his  patience,  patriotism  and  love  of  \ 
justice,  that  this  perversion  of  law  and  contempt  of  jus 
tice,  will  produce  a  good  effect  upon  party  politics  —  for  ^ 
that  is  the  obvious  meaning  of  the  expression,  "  All  this 
will  work  well." 

And  to  leave  no  doubt  upon  any  mind  that  this  con 
struction  of  his  language  is  correct,  the  following  extract 
from  the  same  letter  is  adduced  as  evidence.  "  The  fed 
eralists,  too,  give  all  their  aid,  making  Burr's  cause  their 
own,  mortified  only  that  he  did  not  separate  the  union  or 
overturn  the  government,  and  proving  that  had  he  had  a 
little  dawn  of  success  they  would  have  joined  him  to  in 
troduce  his  object,  their  favorite  monarchy,  as  they  would 
any  other  enemy,  foreign  or  domestic,  who  could  rid  them 


64  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

of  this  hateful  republic  for  any  other  government  in  ex 
change." 

The  same  accusation  is  contained  in  a  letter  addressed 
to  James  Bowdoin,  April  2,  1807.  He  says,  "The  fact 
is,  that  the  federalists  make  Burr's  cause  their  own,  and 
exert  their  whole  influence  to  shield  him  from  punish 
ment,  as  they  did  the  adherents  of  Miranda.  And  it  is 
unfortunate  that  federalism  is  still  predominant  in  our  ju 
diciary  department,  which  is  consequently  in  opposition  to 
the  legislative  and  executive  branches,  and  is  able  to 
baffle  their  measures  often." 

These  charges  against  the  federalists,  it  will  be  observed, 
are  contained  in  private  letters  to  Mr.  Jefferson's  confidential 
friends,  and  of  course  we  are  to  conclude  were  not  intend 
ed  to  see  the  light ;  and  in  all  probability  they  were  never 
exposed  to  the  public  until  they  appeared  in  his  posthu 
mous  volumes.  It  is  not  probable  that  he  credited  his 
own  declarations,  because  there  was  no  evidence  laid  be 
fore  the  country  at  the  time,  nor  has  there  been  since, 
which  gave  the  last  color  to  them.  They  were,  beyond  all 
6e*«*question,  unfounded  and  false.  The  federalists  never  had 
any  political  connection  with  Aaron  Burr.  When  the  ques 
tion  whether  he  or  Mr.  Jefferson  should  be  president  of  the 
United  States  came  before  the  house  of  representatives,  a 
choice  of  evils  was  presented  to  that  body.  They  had  very 
little  confidence  in  the  character  or  patriotism  of  either ;  but 
they  preferred  Burr  to  Jefferson.  And  this  probably  was 
the  source  of  this  extreme  animosity  towards  them ;  for  it  is 
one  of  the  remarkable  traits  of  his  character,  that  he  never 
forgave  the  man  who  endeavored  to  check  him  in  the  ca 
reer  of  ambition.  In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Logan,  dated  May 
11,  1805,  is  the  following  passage: — "I  see  with  infinite 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  65 

pain  the  bloody  schism  which  has  taken  place  among  our 
friends  in  Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  and  will  probably 
take  place  in  other  states.  The  main  body  of  both  sec 
tions  mean  well,  but  their  good  intentions  will  produce  a 
great  public  evil.  The  minority,  whichever  section  shall 
be  the  minority,  will  end  in  coalition  with  the  federalists 
and  some  compromising  of  principle ;  because  these  will 
not  sell  their  aid  for  nothing.  Republicanism  will  thus 
lose,  and  royalism  gain  some  portion  of  that  ground  which 
we  thought  we  had  rescued  to  good  government.  I  do 
not  express  my  sense  of  our  misfortunes  from  any  idea 
that  they  are  remediable.  I  know  that  the  passions  of 
men  will  take  their  course,  that  they  are  not  to  be  con 
trolled  but  by  despotism,  and  that  this  melancholy  truth 
is  the  pretext  for  despotism.  The  duty  of  an  upright  ad 
ministration  is  to  pursue  its  course  steadily,  to  know  noth 
ing  of  these  family  dissensions,  and  to  cherish  the  good 
principles  of  both  parties.  The  war  ad  internecionem, 
[the  war  of  examination,]  which  we  have  waged  against 
federalism,  has  filled  our  latter  times  with  strife  and  un- 
happiness.  We  have  met  it  with  pain,  indeed,  but  with 
firmness,  because  we  believed  it  the  last  convulsive  effort 
of  that  hydra  which  we  had  conquered  in  the  field." 

In  a  letter  to  George  Hay,  district-attorney,  who  was 
carrying  on  the  prosecution  against  Burr,  dated  June  20, 
1807,  Mr.  Jefferson  says,  "  I  did  not  see  till  last  night  the 
opinion  of  the  judge  on  the  subpoena  duces  tecum  against 
the  president.  Considering  the  question  there  as  coram 
wn  judiftt  I  did  not  read  his  argument  with  much  atten 
tion.  Yet  I  saw  readily  enough  that,  as  is  usual  where 
an  opinion  is  to  be  supported,  right  or  wrong,  he  dwells 
much  on  smaller  objections  and  passes  over  those  which 
are  solid.  Laying  down  the  position  generally  that  a'H 
6* 


66  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

persons  owe  obedience  to  subpoenas,  he  admits  no  excep 
tion  unless  it  can  be  produced  in  his  law  books." 

In  another  letter  to  the  same  person,  dated  Sept.  7, 
1807,  after  Burr's  acquittal,  he  says,  "  I  am  happy  in 
having  the  benefit  of  Mr.  Madison's  counsel  on  this  occa 
sion,  he  happening  now  to  be  with  me.  We  are  both 
strongly  of  opinion  that  the  prosecution  against  Burr  for 
misdemeanor  should  proceed  at  Richmond.  If  defeated, 
it  will  heap  coals  of  fire  on  the  head  of  the  judge." 

It  is  apparent  from  these  extracts,  and  particularly  from 
the  closing  sentence  in  the  last,  that  Mr.  Jefferson  not 
only  experienced  feelings  of  disappointment  and  extreme 
mortification  at  Burr's  acquittal,  but  of  much  deeper  re 
sentment  towards  the  great  judge  before  whom  he  was 
tried.  Judge  Marshall  supported  through  a  long  life  the 
highest  reputation  for  learning,  talents,  integrity  and  in 
dependence  of  mind.  He  was  an  ornament  to  the  bench, 
and  an  honor  to  his  country ;  and  his  character  will  be 
had  in  the  most  honorable  remembrance,  not  only  by  all 
the  upright  and  virtuous  inhabitants  of  this  country,  but 
throughout  the  civilized  world,  when  those  who  vilified 
him  in  the  administration  of  justice  will  be  forgotten,  or 
recollected  only  to  be  contemned  and  despised.  On  the 
head  of  such  a  man  Mr.  Jefferson  wished,  merely  for  the 
gratification  of  his  vindictive  spirit  towards  a  man  who 
had  escaped  his  vengeance  as  well  as  the  penalty  of  the 
law,  to  heap  coals  of  fire.  In  another  letter  to  Mr.  Hay, 
.he  says,  "  Those  whole  proceedings,  (in  Burr's  trial,)  will 
be  laid  before  congress,  that  they  may  decide  whether 
.the  defect  has  been  in  the  evidence  of  guilt,  or  in  the  law, 
or  in  the  application  of  the  law,  and  that  they  may  provide 
the  proper  remedy  for  the  past  and  the  future"  Here 
there  is  undoubtedly  a  broad  hint  at  an  impeachment  of 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  67 

the  chief  justice,  for  a  wilful  perversion  of  the  law  for  the 
purpose  of  preventing  Burr's  conviction. 

Much  more  might  be  adduced  on  this  subject ;  but  here 
is  abundant  evidence  that  the  opinions  which  the  federal 
ists  entertained  respecting  Mr.  Jefferson's  hostility  to  an 
independent  judiciary  were  well  founded  and  just.  In 
their  estimation,  this  was  one  of  the  great  fundamental 
principles  of  the  constitution,  without  which  it  would 
hardly  have  been  worth  the  formality  of  adoption ;  and 
with  such  feelings  and  such  sentiments,  they  could  not 
fail  of  being  opposed  to  the  elevation  of  a  person  to  the 
office  of  chief  magistrate  whose  sentiments  were  so  much 
at  variance  with  their  own,  and  whose  influence  in  regard 
to  the  proper  constitutional  standing  and  weight  of  the 
court  they  had  every  reason  to  believe  would  be  exerted 
for  the  most  mischievous  and  dangerous  purposes. 

They  also  contain  abundant  evidence  of  his  dislike  of 
courts,  and  particularly  of  a  judiciary  so  independent  as 
that  neither  executive  frowns,  nor  popular  passion  or  fa 
vor,  coukL.  have  any  influence  over  its  official  conduct. 
This  was  precisely  the  situation  in  which  those  who  form 
ed  and  those  who  adopted  the  constitution  intended  it 
should  be  placed.  Mr.  Jefferson's  hostility  to  this  part  of 
that  instrument  obviously  was  that  it  would  place  one 
branch  of  the  government  out  of  his  reach  and  beyond  his 
control.  He  was  not  at  all  satisfied  with  the  power  of 
impeachment  as  the  means  of  securing  that  good  behav 
ior  which  was  the  tenure  of  judicial  office.  He  calls  it 
a  farce,  a  mere  scare-crow,  totally  inefficacious  to  keep  the 
courts  within  the  scope  of  popular  influence,  or  what  he 
calls  responsibility  to  the  people. 

But  a  stronger  objection,  in  his  mind,  lay  against  the 
court  itself.  This  was,  its  federalism.  If  the  judges,  un- 


68  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

der  the  influence  of  federalism  or  any  other  feeling  or 
principle,  had  perverted  justice  or  sanctioned  a  violation 
of  law,  they  would  have  been  justly  liable  to  an  impeach 
ment  ;  and  if  charges  of  that  description  had  been  proved 
and  substantiated,  the  senate,  as  constituted  during  his 
administration,  would  have  sustained  it.  But  his  objec 
tion  to  the  conduct  of  judge  Marshall  in  the  trial  of  Burr 
was  not  that  he  did  not  regard  the  law,  but,  in  reality, 
that  he  did.  In  his  letter  to  Giles,  he  says,  "  That  there 
should,  be  anxiety  and  doubt  in  the  public  mind  in  the 
present  defective  state  of  the  proof,  is  not  wonderful ;  and 
this  has  been  sedulously  encouraged  by  the  tricks  of  the 
judge  to  force  trials  before  it  is  possible  to  collect  the  evi 
dence  dispersed  through  a  line  of  two  thousand  miles, 
from  Maine  to  Orleans."  "  Our  information  having  been 
chiefly  by  way  of  letter,  we  do  not  know  of  a  certainty 
yet  what  will  be  proved.  We  have  set  on  foot  an  inquiry 
through  the  whole  of  the  country  which  has  been  the 
scene  of  these  transactions,  to  be  able  to  prove  to  the 
courts,  if  they  will  give  time,  or  to  the  public  by  way 
of  communication  to  congress,  what  the  real  facts  have 
been." 

From  this  passage,  it  is  apparent  that  he  had  a  prisoner 
in  custody  charged  with  the  highest  crime  known  to  the 
law,  not  only  without  evidence  to  prove  his  guilt  but  even 
to  establish  the  preliminary  fact  that  the  crime  had  been 
committed.  And  he  was  angry  with  judge  Marshall  that 
he  would  not  pervert  the  plain  principles  of  law  and  the 
practice  of  courts,  by  retaining  the  person  accused  in 
prison  until  he  could  scour  the  country  for  proof  to  make 
out  his  case.  And  to  show  the  extreme  looseness  of  his 
sentiments  on  the  subject  of  criminal  justice,  in  answer  to 
a  remark  from  the  bench  that  probable  cause  of  guilt  must 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  69 

be  made  out  by  proof,  he  says,  "  That  guilty  intentions 
were  probable  the  judge  believed.  And  as  to  the  overt 
acts,  were  not  the  bundle  of  letters  of  information  in  Mr. 
Rodney's  hands,  the  letters  and  facts  published  in  the 
newspapers,  Burr's  flight,  and  the  universal  belief  or 
rumor  of  his  guilt,  probable  ground  for  presuming  the  facts 
of  enlistment,  military  guard  ?  "  &c. 


70  THE    CHARACTER    OF 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Federalists  opposed  Mr.  Jefferson  on  the  ground  of  his  unsound 
and  dangerous  opinions  respecting  the  constitution — Correspon 
dence  with  Mrs.  Adams — Friendship  for  Mr.  Adams — Paying 
Callendar — His  acquaintance  with  Callendar — Discharge  of  per 
sons  convicted  under  the  sedition  law,  because  he  conceived  the 
law  a  nullity — His  sentiments  respecting  the  power  of  the  execu 
tive  to  decide  on  the  constitutionality  of  laws.  The  executive 
and  judicial  powers  equal  in  this  case — The  sincerity  of  Mr.  Jef 
ferson's  professions  of  friendship  for  Mr.  Adams — Publication 
of  Paine's  Rights  of  Man — Mr.  Jefferson's  letter  to  general 
Washington  in  relation  to  it. 

THE  federalists  viewed  Mr.  Jefferson  as  entertaining 
loose  and  dangerous  opinions  respecting  the  principles  and 
authority  of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  that 
he  would,  in  any  peculiar  exigency,  give  it  such  a  con 
struction  as  would  make  it  answer  his  own  purposes. 
During  the  administration  of  the  senior  president  Adams, 
many  of  the  measures  of  the  government  were  particularly 
odious  to  Mr.  Jefferson  and  his  party.  Such  feelings  very 
naturally  produced  a  coolness,  if  not  something  more,  be 
tween  these  two  high  officers  of  the  government.  In  the 
year  1804,  Mrs.  Adams  addressed  a  letter  of  condolence  to 
Mr.  Jefferson  on  the  death  of  his  daughter,  which  drew 
from  him  an  answer,  in  which,  with  a  degree  of  skill  and 
dexterity  that  no  other  man  could  practice,  he  paved  the 
way  for  a  reconciliation  between  the  two  rival  dignitaries  ; 
in  which  attempt  he  ultimately 'succeeded.  Mr.  Adams, 
with  strong  powers  of  mind  and  great  pride  of  character, 


THOMAS    JEFFEHSON. 

was  not  proof  against  flattery ;  and  Mr.  Jefferson,  who 
understood  his  character  well,  knew  where  to  apply  its 
power  in  such  a  manner  as  to  secure  his  object.  In  his 
answer  to  Mrs.  Adams,  which  is  dated  June  13,  1804,  after 
noticing  the  particular  object  of  her  letter,  he  says — 

"  Mr.  Adams's  friendship  and  mine  began  at  an  earlier 
date.  It  accompanied  us  through  long  and  important 
scenes.  The  different  conclusions  we  had  drawn  from  our 
political  reading  and  reflections  were  not  permitted  to  less 
en  mutual  esteem  ;  each  party  being  conscious  they  were 
the  result  of  an  honest  conviction  in  the  other.  Like  dif 
ferences  of  opinion  existing  among  our  fellow  citizens,  at 
tached  them  to  the  one  or  the  other  of  us,  and  produced  a 
rivalship  in  their  minds  which  did  not  exist  in  ours.  We 
never  stood  in  one  another's  way.  For  if  either  had  been 
withdrawn  at  any  time,  his  favorers  would  not  have  gone 
over  to  the  other,  but  would  have  sought  for  some  one  of 
homogeneous  opinions.  This  consideration  was  sufficient 
to  keep  down  all  jealousy  between  us,  and  to  guard  our 
friendship  from  any  disturbance  by  sentiments  of  rivalship ; 
and  I  can  say  with  truth,  that  one  act  of  Mr.  Adams's  life, 
and  one  only,  ever  gave  me  a  moment's  personal  displea 
sure.  I  did  consider  his  last  appointments  to  office  as  per 
sonally  unkind.  They  were  from  among  my  most  ardent 
political  enemies,  from  whom  no  faithful  co-operation 
could  ever  be  expected  ;  and  laid  me  under  the  embarrass 
ment  of  acting  through  men  whose  views  were  to  defeat 
mine,  or  to  encounter  the  odium  of  putting  others  in  their 
places.  It  seems  but  common  justice  to  leave  a  successor 
free  to  act  by  instruments  of  his  own  choice.  If  my  re 
spect  for  him  did  not  permit  me  to  ascribe  the  whole  blame 
to  the  influence  of  others,  it  left  something  for  friendship 
to  forgive,  and  after  brooding  over  it  for  some  little  time, 


72  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

and  not  always  resisting  the  expression  of  it,  I  forgave  it 
co/dially,  and  returned  to  the  same  state  of  esteem  and  re 
spect  for  him  which  had  so  long  subsisted.  Having  come 
into  life  a  little  later  than  Mr.  Adams,  his  career  has  pre 
ceded  mine,  as  mine  is  followed  by  some  other ;  and  it 
will  probably  be  closed  at  the  same  distance  after  him 
which  time  originally  placed  between  us.  I  maintain  for 
him,  and  shall  carry  into  private  life,  a  uniform  and  high 
measure  of  respect  and  good  will,  and  for  yourself  a  sin 
cere  attachment." 

On  the  22d  of  July,  1822,  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  a  second 
letter  to  Mrs.  Adams,  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  one 
from  her,  in  which  it  would  seem,  she  had  complained  of 
his  extending  his  favors  to  some  worthless  foreigners  who 
were  then  in  the  country,  and  engaged  in  writing  against 
him  and  his  administration.  Among  them  was  a  man  of 
the  name  of  Callendar,  a  British  subject,  who  was  obliged 
to  leave  his  own  country  to  avoid  prosecution  for  seditious 
publications  against  its  government.  Taking  shelter  here, 
which  had  unfortunately  been  considered  as  "  a  refuge  for 
oppressed  humanity "  from  other  parts  of  the  world,  he 
had  resumed  his  former  employment,  and  was  writing 
against  our  government.  The  fact  that  Mr.  Jefferson  had 
contributed  a  sum  of  money  for  the  relief  of  this  political 
vagabond  had  leaked  out,  and  it  would  seem  by  his  letter 
to  Mrs.  Adams,  it  had  been  mentioned  in  her  letter  to  him, 
probably  as  evidence  of  his  unfriendly  feelings  towards 
Mr.  Adams.  In  answer  to  her,  he  says — 

"  Your  favor  of  the  first  instant  was  duly  received,  and 
I  would  not  again  have  intruded  on  you  but  to  rectify  cer 
tain  facts  which  seem  not  to  have  been  presented  to  you 
under  their  true  aspect.  My  charities  to  Callendar  are 
considered  as  rewards  for  his  calumnies.  As  early,  I 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  73 

1         * 

think,  as  1796,  I  was  told  in  Philadelphia  that  Callendar, 
the  author  of  the  '  Political  Progress  of  Britain,'  was  in 
that  city,  a  fugitive  from  persecution  for  having  written 
that  book,  and  in  distress.  I  had  read  and  approved  the 
book.  I  considered  him  as  a  man  of  genius,  unjustly  per 
secuted.  I  knew  nothing  of  his  private  character,  and  im 
mediately  expressed  my  readiness  to  contribute  to  his  re 
lief  and  to  serve  him.  It  was  a  considerable  time  after 
that,  on  application  from  a  person  who  thought  of  him  as 
I  did,  I  contributed  to  his  relief,  and  afterwards  repeated 
the  contribution.  Himself  I  did  not  see  until  long  after, 
nor  ever  more  than  two  or  three  times.  When  he  first 
began  to  write,  he  told  some  useful  truths  in  his  coarse 
way ;  but  nobody  sooner  disapproved  of  his  writing  than 
I  did,  or  wished  more  that  he  would  be  silent.  My  chari 
ties  to  him  were  no  more  meant  as  encouragements  to  his 
scurrilities,  than  those  I  give  the  beggar  at  my  door  are 
meant  as  rewards  for  the  vices  of  his  life  and  to  make 
them  chargeable  to  myself.  In  truth,  they  would  have 
been  greater  to  him  had  he  never  written  a  word  after  the 
work  for  which  he  fled  from  Britain.  Witji  respect  to  the 
calumnies  and  falsehoods  which  writers  and  printers  at 
large  published  against  Mr.  Adams,  I  was  as  far  from 
stooping  to  any  concern  or  approbation  of  them  as  Mr. 
Adams  was  respecting  those  of  Porcupine,  Fenno,  or  Rus 
sell,  who  published  volumes  against  me  for  every  sentence 
vended  by  their  opponents  against  Mr.  Adams.  But  I 
never  supposed  Mr.  Adams  had  any  participation  in  the 
atrocities  of  these  editors,  or  their  writers.  I  knew  myself 
incapable  of  that  base  warfare,  and  believed  him  to  be  so. 
On  the  contrary,  whatever  I  may  have  thought  of  the  acts 
of  the  administration  of  that  day,  I  have  ever  borne  testi 
mony  to  Mr.  Adams's  personal  worth  ;  nor  was  it  ever  im- 
7 


74 ^  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

>f 

peached  in  my  presence  without  a  just  vindication  of  it 
on  my  part.  I  never  supposed  that  any  person  who 
knew  either  of  us  could  believe  that  either  of  us  meddled 
in  that  dirty  work.  But  another  fact  is,  that  I  '  liberated 
a  wretch  who  was  suffering  for  a  libel  against  Mr.  Adams.' 
I  do  not  know  who  was  the  particular  wretch  alluded  to ; 
but  I  discharged  every  person  under  punishment  or  prose 
cution  under  the  sedition  law,  because  I  considered  and 
now  consider  that  law  to  be  a  nullity  as  absolute  and  as 
palpable  as  if  congress  had  ordered  us  to  fall  down  and 
worship  a  golden  image ;  and  that  it  was  as  much  my 
duty  to  arrest  its  execution  in  every  stage,  as  it  would 
have  been  to  have  rescued  from  the  fiery  furnace  those 
who  should  have  been  cast  into  it  for  refusing  to  worship 
the  image.  It  was  accordingly  done  in  every  instance, 
without  asking  what  the  offenders  had  done,  or  against 
whom  they  had  offended,  but  whether  the  pains  they  were 
suffering  were  inflicted  under  the  pretended  sedition  law. 
It  was  certainly  possible  that  my  motives  for  contributing 
to  the  relief  of  Callendar,  and  liberating  sufferers  under 
the  sedition  law,  might  have  been  to  protect,  encourage 
and  reward  slander ;  but  they  may  also  have  been  those 
which  inspire  ordinary  charities  to  objects  of  distress, 
meritorious  or  not,  or  the  obligation  of  an  oath  to  protect 
the  constitution  violated  by  an  unauthorized  act  of  con 
gress.  Which  of  these  were  my  motives  must  be  decided 
by  a  regard  to  the  general  tenor  of  my  life.  On  this  I  am 
not  afraid  to  appeal  to  the  nation  at  large,  to  posterity,  and 
still  less  to  that  Being  who  sees  himself  our  motives,  who 
will  judge  us  from  his  own  knowledge  of  them,  and  not 
-on  the  testimony  of  Porcupine  or  Fenno." 

These  letters  have  been  copied  in  order  that  the  princi 
ples  advanced  in   a  third   epistle  to  the  same  lady,  dated 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  75 

September  11,  1804,  may  be  more  fully  understood.  In 
the  following  extract  from  the  last  mentioned  letter  will 
be  found  sentiments  of  a  most  extravagant  description  re 
specting  the  powers  of  the  executive  branch  of  the  govern 
ment  over  the  judiciary;  and  at  the  same  time,  the  origin 
of  those  advanced  at  a  subsequent  period  by  Andrew 
Jackson,  when  claiming  a  similar  authority  over  the  same 
branch  of  the  government,  may  be  distinctly  traced. 

"  You  seem  to  think  it  devolved  on  the  judges  to  decide 
on  the  validity  of  the  sedition  law.  But  nothing  in  the 
constitution  has  given  them  a  right  to  decide  for  the  exec 
utive,  more  than  to  the  executive  to  decide  for  them.  Both 
magistracies  are  equally  independent  in  the  sphere  of  ac 
tion  assigned  to  them.  The  judges,  believing  the  law 
constitutional,  had  a  right  to  pass  a  sentence  of  fine  and 
imprisonment;  because  the  power  was  placed  in  their 
hands  by  the  constitution.  But  the  executive,  believing 
the  law  to  be  unconstitutional,  were  bound  to  remit  the 
execution  of  it;  because  that  power  had  been  confided  to 
them  by  the  constitution.  That  instrument  meant  that  its 
co-ordinate  branches  should  be  checks  on  each  other. 
But  the  opinion  which  gives  to  the  judges  the  right  to 
decide  what  laws  are  constitutional  and  what  not,  not  only 
for  themselves  in  their  own  sphere  of  action,  but  for  the 
legislature  and  executive  also  in  their  spheres,  would  make 
the  judiciary  a  despotic  branch" 

This  principle  of  construction,  when  carried  into  prac 
tical  effect,  proceeds  very  far  towards  the  destruction  of 
the  independence  of  the  judiciary.  According  to  this  doc 
trine  in  all  cases  to  which  it  applies,  the  co-ordinate  doc 
trine,  as  here  laid  down,  goes  the  length  of  determining 
that  the  executive,  whenever  it  differs  in  opinion  from  the 
courts  on  a  constitutional  question,  may  interpose  its  par- 


76  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

doning  power  if  the  case  happens  to  be  of  a  kind  which 
admits  of  its  application ;  or  if  not,  to  withhold  its  aid  in 
carrying  the  sentence  of  the  court  into  execution,  and  thus 
to  annihilate  the  co-ordinate  power  of  the  judiciary.  Such 
a  construction  is  not  only  highly  mischievous  in  its  ten 
dency  and  consequences,  but  it  is  a  gross  slander  upon 
the  convention  who  formed  the  constitution  arid  the  gen 
eration  of  men  by  whom  it  was  adopted.  If  once  estab 
lished  as  the  rule  of  conduct,  it  must  necessarily  show  that 
both  the  convention  and  the  people  fell  into  the  gross  error 
of  providing,  in  their  constitution,  different  branches  of  gov 
ernment  of  such  equal  powers  that  one  would  be  able  en 
tirely  to  prevent  another  from  performing  its  appropriate 
duties.  Such,  however,  was  Mr.  Jefferson's  dislike  to 
courts,  such  an  inconvenience  was  an  independent  judi 
ciary  to  him  in  the  prosecution  of  his  wild  Utopian  system 
of  republicanism,  as  well  as  his  schemes  of  personal  am 
bition,  that,  rather  than  be  constantly  embarrassed  by  a  co- 
6rdinate  authority,  established  for  the  very  purpose  of 
keeping  the  proceedings  of  the  other  branches  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  constitution,  he  would  plunge  into  such 
a  fatal  absurdity  in  order  to  relieve  himself  from  the  in- 
cumbrance  of  judicial  restraint. 

The  friends  of  Mr.  Adams,  and,  indeed,  the  community 
at  large,  were  surprised  to  find  the  intimacy  which  had 
once  subsisted  between  him  and  Mr.  Jefferson,  but  which 
had  been  interrupted  by  the  political  occurrences  they 
were  obliged  to  encounter  under  the  national  governmentr 
renewed  towards  the  close  of  their  lives.  In  the  year 
1812,  a  correspondence  commenced  between  them,  and  on 
Mr.  Jefferson's  part,  at  least,  it  was  prosecuted  with  a 
good  degree  of  vigor ;  for  in  the  fourth  volume  of  his 
posthumous  works  there  are  nearly  thirty  letters  from  him 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  77 

to  Mr.  Adams.  Those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  pe 
culiar  structure  of  that  gentleman's  mind  will  not  be  sur 
prised  to  find  that  he  was  flattered  into  a  renewal  of  their 
former  intimacy.  As  a  specimen  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  inge 
nuity  and  skill  in  managing  a  case  of  this  kind,  and  as 
additional  proof  of  the  art  and  address  used  by  him  in  his 
letters  to  Mrs.  Adams,  the  following  passages  of  a  letter 
from  him  to  Mr.  Adams,  dated  January  21,  1812,  are 
adduced : — 

"  A  letter  from  you  calls  up  recollections  very  dear  to 
my  mind.  It  carries  me  back  to  the  times  when,  beset 
with  difficulties  and  dangers,  we  were  fellow  laborers  in 
the  same  cause,  struggling  for  what  is  most  valuable  to 
man,  his  right  of  self-government.  Laboring  always  at 
the  same  oar,  with  some  wave  ever  ahead  threatening  to 
overwhelm  us  and  yet  passing  harmless  under  our  bark, 
we  knew  not  how,  we  rode  through  the  storm  with  heart 
and  hand  and  made  a  happy  port." 

"  Of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  I' 
see  now  living  not  more  than  half  a  dozen  on  your  side  of 
the  Potomac,  and  on  this  side  myself  alone.  You  and  I 
have  been  wonderfully  spared,  and  myself  with  remarka 
ble  health  and  a  considerable  activity  of  body  and  mind. 
I  am  on  horseback  three  or  four  hours  of  every  day  ;  visit 
three  or  four  times  a  year  a  possession  I  have  ninety  miles 
distant,  performing  the  winter  journey  on  horseback.  I 
walk  little,  however,  a  single  mile  being  too  much  for  rne  ; 
and  I  live  in  the  midst  of  my  grandchildren,  one  of  whom 
has  lately  promoted  me  to  be  a  great  grandfather.  I  have 
.heard  with  pleasure  that  you  also  retain  good  health,  and 
a  greater  power  of  exercise  in  walking  than  I  do.  But  I 
would  rather  have  heard  this  from  yourself;  and  that^wri- 
ting  a  letter  like  mine,  full  of  egotisms  and  of  details  of 


78  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

your  health,  your  habits,  occupations  and  enjoyments,  I 
should  have  the  pleasure  of  knowing  that,  in  the  race  of 
life,  you  do  not  keep  in  its  physical  decline  the  same  dis 
tance  ahead  of  rne  which  you  have  done  in  political  honors 
and  achievements.  No  circumstances  have  lessened  the 
interest  I  feel  in  these  particulars  respecting  yourself; 
none  have  suspended  for  one  moment  my  sincere  esteem 
for  you,  and  I  now  salute  you  with  unchanged  affection 
and  respect." 

The  same  show  of  friendly  feeling  and  regard  runs 
through  the  series  of  letters,  and  was  continued  until 
within  three  years  of  the  time  of  their  death.  At  the  pe 
riod  of  this  renewed  correspondence,  Mr.  Jefferson  had  no 
feelings  of  rivalship  to  indulge,  nor  any  fears  of  being  dis 
appointed  in  his  projects  of  ambition.  His  anxiety  re 
spected  the  future ;  and  he  was  obviously  much  engaged 
in  laying  up  materials  for  his  own  history.  A  reconcil 
iation  with  such  a  man  as  Mr.  Adams  was,  doubtless,  an 
object  of  importance  in  his  view  of  the  subject;  and  it  was 
accomplished  in  the  manner  that  has  been  stated. 

In  order  to  form  a  just  estimate  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  sin 
cerity  in  making  these  ardent  professions  of  esteem  and 
friendship  for  Mr.  Adams,  it  will  be  proper  to  advert  to  an 
earlier  expression  of  his  feelings  towards  him. 

Early  in  the  year  1791,  the  first  part  of  Paine's  Rights  of 
Man  was  published  in  England,  and  a  copy  having  been 
received  in  this  country,  it  was  republished  in  Philadel 
phia.  Prefixed  to  it  was  a  recommendatory  note  from  Mr. 
Jefferson  to  the  publisher,  addressed  by  the  former  to  the 
latter.  As  this  note  alluded  to  a  series  of  articles  written 
by  Mr.  Adams,  and  published  in  the  newspapers,  which 
'were  spoken  of  by  Mr.  Jefferson  as  containing  political 
heresies,  and  the  reference  was  of  such  a  nature  and  in 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON, 


79 


such  terms  as  were  calculated  to  wound  Mr.  Adams's 
feelings,  Mr.  Jefferson  thought  it  expedient  to  write  an 
account  of  his  agency  in  the  matter  to  general  Washing 
ton,  who  was  then  absent  from  the  seat  of  government  on 
a  journey  through  the  southern  states.  The  following  is 
a  copy  of  his  letter  on  that  occasion.  It  is  not  to  be  found 
among  Mr.  Jefferson's  correspondence,  but  is  contained  in 
general  Washington's  writings,  published  by  Mr.  Sparks, 
volume  10,  page  159.  It  is  introduced  by  the  editor  of 
those  volumes  in  the  following  manner. 

"  During  the  absence  of  the  president  on  his  tour  through 
the  southern  states,  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  to  him  as  follows, 
respecting  his  agency  in  the  republication  of  the  first  part 
of  Paine's  '  Rights  of  Man.' " 

"  Philadelphia,  May  8th.  The  last  week  does  not  fur 
nish  one  single  public  event  worthy  of  communicating  to 
you  ;  so  that  I  have  only  to  say,  '  all  is  well.'  Paine's  an 
swer  to  Burke's  pamphlet  begins  to  produce  some  squibs 
in  our  public  papers.  In  Fenno's  paper  they  are  Burkites, 
in  the  others  they  are  Painites.  One  of  Fenno's  was  evi 
dently  from  the  author  of  the  Discourses  on  Davila.  I 
am  afraid  the  indiscretion  of  a  printer  has  committed  me 
with  my  friend  Mr.  Adams,  for  whom,  as  one  of  the  most 
honest  and  disinterested  men  alive,  I  have  a  cordial  esteem, 
increased  by  long  habits  of  concurrence  in  opinion  in  the 
days  of  his  republicanism  ;  and  even  since  his  apostacy  to  he 
reditary  monarchy  and  nobility,  though  we  differ,  we  differ 
as  friends  should  do.  Beckley  had  the  only  copy  of  Paine's 
pamphlet  and  lent  it  to  me,  desiring  when  I  should  have 
read  it,  that  I  should  send  it  to  a  Mr.  J.  B.  Smith,  who 
had  asked  it  for  his  brother  to  reprint  it.  Being  an  utter 
stranger  to  J.  B.  Smith,  both  by  sight  and  character,  I  wrote 
a  note  to  explain  to  him  why  I  (a  stranger  to  him)  sent 


THE    CHARACTER    OF 

him  a  pamphlet,  namely,  that  Mr.  Beckley  had  desired  it ; 
and,  to  take  off  a  little  of  the  dryness  of  the  note,  I  added, 
that  I  was  glad  to  find  that  it  was  to  be  reprinted,  that 
something  would  at  length  be  said  against  the  political 
heresies  which  had  lately  sprung  up  among  us,  and  that  I 
did  not  doubt  our  citizens  would  rally  again  round  the 
standard  of  common  sense. 

"  That  I  had  in  my  view  the  Discourses  on  Davila, 
which  had  filled  Fenno's  papers  for  a  twelve-month  with 
out  contradiction,  is  certain  ;  but  nothing  was  ever  further 
from  my  thought  than  to  become  myself  the  contradictor  be 
fore  the  public.  To  my  great  astonishment,  however,  when 
the  pamphlet  came  out,  the  printer  had  prefixed  my  note 
to  it  without  having  given  me  the  most  distant  hint  of  it. 
Mr.  Adarns  will  unquestionably  take  to  himself  the  charge 
of  political  heresy,  as  conscious  of  his  own  views  of  draw 
ing  the  present  government  to  the  form  of  the  English 
constitution,  and  I  fear  will  consider  me  as  meaning  to  in 
jure  him  in  the  public  eye.  I  learn  that  some  Anglomen 
have  censured  it  in  another  point  of  view,  as  a  sanction  of 
Paine's  principles  tends  to  give  offence  to  the  British  gov 
ernment.  Their  real  fear  however,  is,  that  this  popular 
and  republican  pamphlet,  taking  wonderfully,  is  likely  at  a 
single  stroke  to  wipe  out  all  the  unconstitutional  doctrines 
which  their  bell-wether  Davila  has  been  preaching  for  a 
twelve-month. 

"  I  certainly  never  made  a  secret  of  my  being  anti- 
monarchical,  and  anti-aristocratical  ;  but  I  am  sincerely 
mortified  to  be  thus  brought  forward  on  the  public  stage, 
where  to  remain,  to  advance,  or  to  retire,  will  be  equally 
against  rny  love  of  silence  and  quiet,  and  my  abhorrence  of 
dispute." 

It  would  have  been  more  characteristic,  if  Mr.  Jefferson 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  81 

had  made  this  attack  upon  his  friend,  Mr.  Adams,  in  a 
more  secret  and  clandestine  manner  ;  and  all  the  regret  that 
he  experienced  on  this  occasion,  appears  to  have  arisen 
from  the  circumstance,  that  his  sentiments  respecting  that 
gentleman  had  been  thus  disclosed,  and  he  brought  upon 
the  public  stage,  where  to  remain,  advance  or  retire,  would 
be  against  his  love  of  silence. 


8'2 


THE    CHARACTER    OF 


CHAPTER    V. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  opinion  that  one  generation  of  men  cannot  bind 
another,  individually  or  collectively,  to  the  fulfilment  of  obliga 
tions—Letter  to  James  Madison  on  the  subject,  dated  Septem 
ber,  1789— to  doctor  Gem— to  J.  W.  Eppes— to  J.  Cartwright, 
dated  June,  1824— Examination  of  his  principle— Mr.  Jefferson 
a  mere  partizan  in  politics— Letter  to  F.  Hopkinson,  March, 
1789— Correspondence  respecting  the  operations  of  the  federal 
government,  1790,  1791— Origin  of  the  Ana— Monarchy— Con 
troversy  of  those  days  between  the  advocates  of  kingly  and  re 
publican  government. 

AMONG  the  strange  and  extravagant  opinions  which  Mr. 
Jefferson  had  formed,  and  of  the  soundness  of  which  he 
had  apparently  reasoned  himself  into  a  full  and  fixed  be 
lief,  was  the  notion  that  one  generation  of  men  had  no 
right  to  bind  another,  either  in  a  collective  or  individual 
capacity,  to  the  fulfilment  of  obligations  assumed  by  the 
former.  In  a  letter  to  James  Madison,  dated  Paris,  Sep 
tember  6,  1789,  he  says  :— 

"  I  sit  down  to  write  to  you  without  knowing  by  what 
occasion  I  shall  send  my  letter.  I  do  it  because  a  subject 
comes  into  my  head  which  I  would  wish  to  develope  a  lit- 
tie  more  than  is  practicable  in  the  hurry  of  the  moment  of 
making  up  general  despatches. 

"  The  question,  whether  one  generation  of  men  has  a 
right  to  bind  another,  seems  never  to  have  been  started 
either  on  this  or  our  side  of  the  water.  Yet  it  is  a  ques 
tion  of  such  consequences  as  not  only  to  merit  decision, 
but  a  place  also  among  the  fundamental  principles  of  every 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  83 

government.  The  course  of  reflection  in  which  we  are 
immersed  here,  on  the  elementary  principles  of  society, 
has  presented  this  question  to  my  mind  ;  and  that  no  such 
obligation  can  be  transmitted  1  think  very  capable  of  proof. 
I  set  out  on  this  ground,  which  I  suppose  to  be  self-evi 
dent,  that  the  earth  belongs  in  usufruct  to  the  living :  that 
the  dead  have  neither  powers  nor  rights  over  it.  The  por 
tion  occupied  by  any  individual  ceases  to  be  his  when 
himself  ceases  to  be,  and  reverts  to  the  society.  If  the 
society  has  formed  no  rules  for  the  appropriation  of  its 
lands  in  severally,  it  will  be  taken  by  the  first  occupants, 
and  these  will  generally  be  the  wife  and  children  of  the 
decedent.  If  they  have  formed  rules  of  appropriation, 
those  rules  may  give  it  to  the  wife  and  children,  or  to 
some  one  of  them,  or  to  the  legatee  of  the  deceased.  So 
they  may  give  it  to  his  creditor.  But  the  child,  the  lega 
tee,  or  creditor  takes  it  not  by  natural  right,  but  by  a  law 
of  the  society  of  which  he  is  a  member  and  to  which  he 
is  subject.  Thus  no  man  can,  by  natural  right,  oblige 
the  lands  he  occupied,  or  the  persons  who  succeed  him  in 
that  occupation,  to  the  payment  of  debts  contracted  by 
him.  For  if  he  could,  he  might,  during  his  own  life,  eat 
up  the  usufruct  of  the  lands  for  several  generations  to 
come  ;  and  then  the  lands  would  belong  to  the  dead,  and 
not  to  the  living,  which  is  the  reverse  of  our  principle. 

"  What  is  true  of  every  member  of  the  society  individu 
ally,  is  true  of  them  all  collectively  ;  since  the  rights  of  the 
whole  can  be  no  more  than  the  sum  of  the  rights  of  the  in 
dividuals.  To  keep  our  ideas  clear  when  applying  them  to 
a  multitude,  let  us  suppose  a  whole  generation  of  men  to  be 
born  on  the  same  day,  to  attain  mature  age  on  the  same  day, 
and  to  die  on  the  same  day,  leaving  a  succeeding  generation 
in  the  moment  of  attaining  their  mature  age,  all  together. 


84 


THE    CHARACTER    OF 


Let  the  ripe  age  be  supposed  of  twenty-one  years,  and  their 
period  of  life  thirty-four  years  more,  that  being  the  average 
term  given  by  the  bills  of  mortality  to  persons  of  twenty- 
one  years  of  age.  Each  successive  generation  would,  in 
this  way,  come  and  go  off  the  stage  at  a  fixed  moment,  as 
individuals  do  now.  Then,  I  say,  the  earth  belongs  to 
each  of  these  generations  during  its  course,  fully  and  in 
its  own  right.  The  second  generation  receives  it  clear  of 
the  debts  and  incumbrances  of  the  first,  the  third  of  the 
second,  and  so  on.  For  if  the  first  could  charge  it  with  a 
debt,  then  the  earth  would  belong  to  the  dead  and  not  to 
the  living  generation.  Then  no  generation  can  contract 
debts  greater  than  may  be  paid  during  the  course  of  its 
own  existence.  At  twenty-one  years  of  age,  they  may 
bind  themselves  and  their  lands  for  thirty-four  years  to 
come ;  at  twenty-two  for  thirty-three ;  at  twenty-three  for 
thirty-two ;  and  at  fifty-four  for  one  year  only ;  because 
these  are  the  terms  of  life  which  remain  to  them  at  the 
respective  epochs.  But  a  material  difference  must  be 
noted  between  the  succession  of  an  individual  and  a  whole 
generation.  Individuals  are  parts  only  of  a  society,  sub 
ject  to  the  laws  of  the  whole.  These  laws  may  appropri 
ate  the  portion  of  land  occupied  by  a  decedent  to  his  credi 
tor  rather  than  to  any  other,  or  to  his  child  on  condition 
that  he  satisfies  the  creditor.  But  when  a  whole  genera 
tion,  that  is,  the  whole  society,  dies,  as  in  the  case  we 
have  supposed,  and  another  generation  or  society  succeeds, 
this  forms  a  whole,  and  there  is  no  superior  who  can  give 
their  territory  to  a  third  society,  who  may  have  lent  money 
to  their  predecessors  beyond  their  faculties  of  paying. 

"  What  is  true  of  generations  succeeding  one'  another 
at  fixed  epochs,  as  has  been  supposed  for  clearer  concep 
tion,  is  true  of  those  renewed  daily,  as  is  the  actual  course 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  85 

of  nature.  As  a  majority  of  the  contracting  generation 
will  continue  in  being  for  thirty-four  years,  and  a  new 
majorky  will  then  come  into  possession,  the  former  may 
extend  their  engagements  to  that  term  and  no  longer. 
The  conclusion,  then,  is,  that  neither  the  representatives  of 
a  nation,  nor  the  whole  nation  itself  assembled,  can  valid ly 
engage  debts  beyond  what  they  may  pay  in  their  own 
time ;  that  is  to  say,  within  thirty-four  years  from  the  date 
of  the  engagement. 

"  To  render  this  conclusion  palpable,  suppose  that  Louis 
the  XIV.  and  XV.  had  contracted  debts  in  the  name  of 
the  French  nation  to  the  amount  often  thousand  milliards, 
and  that  the  whole  had  been  contracted  in  Holland.  The 
interest  of  this  sum  would  be  five  hundred  milliards,  which 
is  the  whole  rent-roll  or  net  proceeds  of  the  territory  of 
France.  Must  the  present  generation  have  retired  from 
the  territory  in  which  nature  produces  them  and  ceded  it 
to  the  Dutch  creditors  ?  No ;  they  have  the  same  rights 
over  the  soil  on  which  they  were  produced  as  the  preced 
ing  generations  had.  They  derive  these  rights  not  from 
them,  but  from  nature.  They,  then,  and  their  soil  are  by 
nature  clear  of  the  debts  of  their  predecessors.  To  pre 
sent  this  in  another  point  of  view,  suppose  Louis  XV. 
and  his  cotemporary  generation  had  said  to  the  money 
lenders  of  Holland,  Give  us  money  that  we  may  eat,  drink 
and  be  merry  in  our  day ;  and  on  condition  that  you  will 
demand  no  interest  until  the  end  of  thirty-four  years,  you 
shall  then  forever  after  receive  an  annual  interest  of  fifteen 
per  cent.  The  money  is  lent  on  these  conditions,  is  di 
vided  among  the  people,  eaten,  drunk,  and  squaRdered. 
Would  the  present  generation  be  obliged  to  apply  the 
produce  of  the  earth  and  of  their  labor  to  replace  their  dis 
sipation  ?  Not  at  all. 
8 


86  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

"  I  suppose  that  the  received  opinion,  that  the  public 
debts  of  one  generation  devolve. on  the  next,  has  been 
suggested  by  our  seeing  habitually  in  private  life,  that  he 
who  succeeds  to  lands  is  required  to  pay  the  debts  of  his 
predecessor;  without  considering  that  this  requisition  is 
municipal  only,  not  moral,  flowing  from  the  will  of  the 
society  which  has  found  it  convenient  to  appopriate  the 
lands  of  a  decedent  on  the  condition  of  a  payment  of  his 
debts ;  but  that  between  society  and  society,  or  generation 
and  generation,  there  is  no  municipal  obligation,  no  um 
pire  but  the  law  of  nature. 

"  The  interest  of  the  national  debt  of  France  being,  in 
fact,  but  a  two  thousandth  part  of  its  rent-roll,  the  payment 
of  it  is  practicable  enough ;  and  so  becomes  a  question 
merely  of  honor  or  of  expediency.  But  with  respect  to 
future  debts,  would  it  not  be  wise  and  just  for  that  nation 
to  declare,  in  the  constitution  they  are  forming,  that  nei 
ther  the  legislature  nor  the  nation  itself  can  validly  con 
tract  more  debt  than  they  may  pay  within  their  own  age, 
or  within  the  term  of  thirty-four  years  ?  and  that  all  fu 
ture  contracts  shall  be  deemed  void  as  to  what  shall  re 
main  unpaid  at  the  end  of  thirty-four  years  from  their  date. 
This  would  put  the  lenders,  and  the  borrowers  also,  on 
their  guard.  By  reducing,  too,  the  faculty  of  borrowing 
within  its  natural  limits,  it  would  bridle  the  spirit  of  war, 
to  which  too  free  a  course  has  been  procured  by  the  inat 
tention  of  money-lenders  to  this  law  of  nature,  that  suc 
ceeding  generations  are  not  responsible  for  the  preceding. 

4<  On  similar  ground  it  may  be  proved  that  no  society 
can  make  a  perpetual  constitution,  or  even  a  perpetual 
law.  The  earth  belongs  always  to  the  living  generation ; 
they  may  manage  it,  then,  and  what  proceeds  from  it,  as 
they  please  during  their  usufruct.  They  are  masters,  too, 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  87 

of  their  own  persons,  and  consequently  may  govern  them 
as  they  please.  But  persons  and  property  make  the  sum 
of  the  objects  of  government.  The  constitution  and  the 
laws  of  their  predecessors  are  extinguished,  then,  in  their 
natural  course,  with  those  whose  will  gave  them  being. 
This  could  preserve  that  being  until  it  ceased  to  be  itself, 
and  no  longer.  Every  constitution,  then,  and  every  law 
naturally  expires  at  the  end  of  thirty-four  years.  If  it  be 
enforced  longer,  it  is  an  act  of  force  and  not  of  right.  It 
may  be  said  that  the  succeeding  generation  exercising,  in 
fact,  the  power  of  repeal,  this  leaves  them  as  free  as  if  the 
constitution  or  law  had  been  expressly  limited  to  thirty- 
four  years  only.  In  the  first  place,  this  objection  admits 
the  right  in  proposing  an  equivalent.  But  the  power  of 
repeal  is  not  an  equivalent.  It  might  be,  indeed,  if  every 
form  of  government  were  so  perfectly  contrived  that  the 
will  of  the  majority  could  always  be  obtained  fairly  and 
without  impediment.  But  this  is  true  of  no  form.  The 
people  cannot  assemble  themselves ;  their  representation 
is  unequal  and  vicious.  Various  checks  are  opposed  to 
every  legislative  proposition.  Factions  get  possession  of 
the  public  councils,  bribery  corrupts  them,  personal  inter 
ests  lead  them  astray  from  the  general  interests  of  their 
constituents ;  and  other  impediments  arise  so  as  to  prove 
to  every  practical  man  that  a  law  of  limited  duration  is 
much  more  manageable  than  one  which  needs  a  repeal. 

"  This  principle  that  the  earth  belongs  to  the  living  and 
not  to  the  dead  is  of  very  extensive  application  and  con 
sequences  in  every  country,  and  most  especially  in  France. 
It  enters  into  the  resolution  of  the  questions,  whether  the 
nation  may  change  the  descent  of  lands  holden  in  tail ; 
whether  they  may  change  the  appropriation  of  lands  given 
anciently  to  the  church,  to  hospitals,  colleges,  orders  of 


88  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

chivalry,  and  otherwise  in  perpetuity;  whether  they  may 
abolish  the  charges  and  privileges  attached  on  lands,  in 
cluding  the  whole  catalogue  ecclesiastical  and  feudal ;  it 
goes  to  hereditary  offices,  authorities  and  jurisdictions,  to 
hereditary  orders,  distinctions  and  appellations,  to  perpet 
ual  monopolies  in  commerce,  the  arts  or  sciences,  with  a 
long  train  of  et  ceteras  ;  and  it  renders  the  question  of  re 
imbursement  a  question  of  generosity  and  not  of  right. 
In  all  these  cases  the  legislature  of  the  day  could  author 
ize  such  appropriations  and  establishments  for  their  own 
time,  but  no  longer  ;  and  the  present  holders,  even  where 
they  or  their  ancestors  have  purchased,  are  in  the  case  of 
lona  fide  purchasers  of  what  the  seller  had  no  right  to 
convey. 

"  Turn  the  subject  in  your  mind,  and  particularly  as 
to  the  power  of  contracting  debts,  and  develop  it  with 
that  cogent  logic  which  is  so  peculiarly  yours.  Your  sta 
tion  in  the  councils  of  our  country  gives  you  an  opportu 
nity  of  producing  it  to  public  consideration,  of  forcing  it 
into  discussion.  At  first  blush  it  may  be  laughed  at  as  the 
dream  of  a  theorist,  but  examination  will  prove  it  to  be 
solid  and  salutary.  It  would  furnish  matter  for  a  fine 
preamble  to  our  first  law  for  appropriating  the  public  rev 
enue  ;  and  it  will  exclude,  at  the  threshhold  of  our  new 
government,  the  ruinous  and  contagious  errors  of  this 
quarter  of  the  globe,  which  have  armed  despots  with 
means  which  nature  does  not  sanction  for  binding  in 
chains  their  fellow-men.  We  have  already  given,  in  ex 
ample,  one  effectual  check  to  the  dog  of  war  by  transfer- 
ing  the  power  of  declaring  war  from  the  executive  to  the 
legislative  body,  from  those  who  are  to  spend  to  those 
who  are  to  pay.  I  should  be  pleased  to  see  this  second 
obstacle  held  out  by  us,  also,  in  the  first  instance.  No 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  89 

nation  can  make  a  declaration  against  the  validity  of  long 
contracted  debts  so  disinterestedly  as  we,  since  we  do  not 
owe  a  shilling  which  will  not  be  paid,  principal  and  inter 
est,  by  the  measures  you  have  taken  within  the  time  of 
our  own  lives." 

Immediately  after  the  letter  from  which  the  foregoing 
extracts  are  made,  in  the  same  volume  of  Mr.  Jefferson's 
works,  is  one  addressed  to  Dr.  Gem,  without  date  of  time 
or  place,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy  :  — 

"  The  hurry  in  which  I  wrote  my  letter  to  Mr.  Madison, 
which  is  in  your  hands,  occasioned  an  inattention  to  the 
difference  between  generations  succeeding  each  other  at 
fixed  epochs  and  generations  renewed  daily  and  hourly. 
It  is  true  that  in  the  former  case  the  generation  when  at 
twenty-one  years  of  age  may  contract  a  debt  for  thirty- 
four  years  because  a  majority  of  them  will  live  so  long. 
But  a  generation  consisting  of  all  ages,  and  which  legis 
lates  by  all  its  members  above  the  age  of  twenty-one  years, 
cannot  contract  for  so  long  a  time  because  their  majority 
will  be  dead  much  sooner.  Buffon  gives  us  a  table  of 
twenty-three  thousand  nine  hundred  and  ninety-four 
deaths,  stating  the  ages  at  which  they  happened.  To 
draw  from  these  the  result  I  have  occasion  for,  I  suppose 
a  society  in  which  twenty-three  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  ninety-four  persons  are  born  every  year,  and  live  to 
the  age  stated  in  Buffon's  table.  Then  the  following  in 
ferences  may  be  drawn.  Such  a  society  will  consist  con 
stantly  of  six  hundred  and  seventeen  thousand  seven  hun 
dred  and  three  persons,  of  all  ages.  Of  those  living  at 
any  one  instant  of  time,  one  half  will  be  dead  in  twenty- 
four  years  and  eight  months.  In  such  a  society,  ten  thou 
sand  six  hundred  and  seventy-five  will  arrive  every  year 
at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  complete.  It  will  constant- 
8* 


90  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

ly  have  three  hundred  and  forty-eight  thousand  four  hun 
dred  and  seventeen  persons,  of  all  ages  above  twenty-one 
years  ;  and  the  half  of  those  of  twenty-one  years  and  up 
wards  living  at  any  one  instant  of  time  will  be  dead  in 
eighteen  years  and  eight  months,  or  say  nineteen  years. 

"  Then  the  contracts,  constitutions  and  laws  of  every 
such  society  become  void  in  nineteen  years  from  their 
date." 

Lest  it  should  be  supposed  that  these  letters  were  written 
when  Mr.  Jefferson's  mind  was  fdled  with  enthusiastic 
zeal  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  by  the  first  breaking  out  of  the 
French  revolution,  and  that  age  and  experience  might 
have  cooled  his  ardor  on  that  intoxicating  subject,  it  will 
appear  that  he  carried  the  wild  and  impracticable  notions 
which  he  had  thus  early  imbibed  along  the  course  and  up 
to  the  close  of  his  long  life.  In  a  letter  to  John  W.  Eppes, 
his  son-in-law,  and  as  it  would  seem,  at  the  time,  chair 
man  of  the  committee  of  ways  and  means  in  the  house  of 
representatives  of  the  United  States,  dated  June  24,  1813, 
he  says  : — 

"  The  earth  belongs  to  the  living,  not  to  the  dead.  The 
will  and  the  power  of  man  expire  with  his  life  by  nature's 
law.  Some  societies  give  it  an  artificial  continuance 
for  the  encouragement  of  industry ;  some  refuse  it,  as  our 
aboriginal  neighbors,  whom  we  call  barbarians.  The  gen 
erations  of  men  may  be  considered  as  bodies  or  corpora 
tions.  Each  generation  has  the  usufruct  of  the  earth  dur 
ing  the  period  of  its  continuance.  When  it  ceases  ta  ex 
ist,  the  usufruct  passes  on  to  the  succeeding  generation, 
free  and  unincumbered,  and  so  on,  successively,  from  one 
generation  to  another  forever.  We  may  consider  each 
generation  as  a  distinct  nation,  with  a  right,  by  the  will  of 
its  majority,  to  bind  themselves,  but  none  to  bind  the  sue- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON. 


91 


ceeding  generation  more  than  the  inhabitants  of  another 
country.  Or  the  case  may  be  likened  to  the  ordinary  one 
of  a  tenant  for  life,  who  may  hypothecate  the  land  for  his 
debts  during  the  continuance  of  his  usufruct ;  but  at  his 
death  the  reversioner  (who  is  for  life  only)  receives  it  exon 
erated  from  all  burthen.  The  period  of  a  generation,  or 
the  term  of  its  life,  is  determined  by  the  laws  of  mortality, 
which  varying  a  little  only  in  different  climates  offer  a 
general  average  to  be  found  by  observation." 

He  then  adverts  to  Buffon's  theory  respecting  the  period 
of  human  life,  and  after  stating  it  much  in  the  same  man 
ner  as  in  a  former  letter  already  quoted,  he  says — "  At 
nineteen  years,  then,  from  the  date  of  a  contract,  the  ma 
jority  of  the  contractors  are  dead  and  their  contract  with 
them."  He  then  states  a  case  for  the  purpose  of  illustra 
ting  the  principle  for  which  he  is  contending,  which  de 
stroys  one  half  the  adult  citizens  of  the  community  which 
forms  the  basis  of  his  estimate ;  and  then  says — "  Till 
then,"  that  is,  to  the  time  of  their  deaths,  "  being  the  ma 
jority,  they  may  rightfully  lay  the  interest  of  their  debt  an 
nually  on  themselves  and  their  fellow-revellers,  or  fellow- 
champions.  But  at  that  period,  say  at  this  moment,  a  new 
majority  have  corne  into  place,  in  their  own  rights,  and 
not  under  the  rights,  the  conditions  or  laws  of  their  prede 
cessors.  Are  they  bound  to  acknowledge  the  debt,  to  con 
sider  the  preceding  generation  as  having  had  a  right  to 
eat  up  the  whole  soil  of  their  country  in  the  course  of  a 
a  life,  to  alienate  it  from  them  (for  it  would  be  an  aliena 
tion  to  the  creditors),  and  would  they  think  themselves 
either  legally  or  morally  bound  to  give  up  their  country 
and  emigrate  to  another  for  subsistence?  Every  one  will 
say  no  :  that  the  soil  is  the  gift  of  God  to  the  living,  as 
much  as  it  had  been  to  the  deceased  generation ;  and  that 


92  THTfc    CHARACTER    OF 

the  laws  of  nature  impose  no  obligation  on  them  to  pay 
this  debt.  And  although,  like  some  other  natural  rights, 
this  has  not  yet  entered  into  any  declaration  of  rights,  it 
is  no  less  a  law,  and  ought  to  be  acted  on  by  honest  gov 
ernments." 

In  a  letter  to  major  John  Cartrwight,  dated  June  5, 
1824,  two  years  only  before  his  death,  (vol.  4, 396,)  he  says, 
"  Can  one  generation  bind  another,  and  all  others,  in  suc 
cession  for  ever?  I  think  not.  The  Creator  has  made 
the  earth  for  the  benefit  of  the  living,  not  the  dead.  Rights 
and  powers  can  only  belong  to  persons,  not  to  things,  not 
to  mere  matter  unendowed  with  will.  The  dead  are  not 
even  things.  The  particles  of  matter  which  composed  their 
bodies  make  part  now  of  the  bodies  of  other  animals, 
vegetables  or  minerals  of  a  thousand  forms.  To  what, 
then,  are  attached  the  rights  they  held  while  in  the  form 
of  men  ?  A  generation  may  bind  itself  as  long  as  its  ma 
jority  continues  in  life  ;  when  that  has  disappeared,  anoth 
er  majority  is  in  place,  holds  all  the  rights  and  powers 
their  predecessors  once  held,  and  may  change  their  laws 
and  institutions  to  suit  themselves.  Nothing,  then,  is  un 
changeable  but  the  inherent  and  unalienable  rights  of 
man." 

The  general  principle  here  advanced  is,  that  no  man 
can  by  natural  right  subject  the  lands  in  his  occupation,  or 
the  persons  who  may  succeed  him  in  that  occupancy,  to  the 
payment  of  his  debts.'  After  a  pretty  long  train  of  reason 
ing  to  establish  this  principle,  Mr.  Jefferson  comes  to  this 
result — "  That  neither  the  representatives  of  a  nation,  nor 
the  whole  nation  itself  assembled,  can  validly  engage 
debts  beyond  what  they  may  pay  in  their  own  time,  that 
is  to  say,  within  thirty-four  years  of  the  .date  of  the  en 
gagement,  or  by  a  different -estimate  of  life  in  nineteen 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  93 

years."  In  the  first  place,  it  would  seem  necessary  to 
establish  the  great  point,  that  all  mankind  must  die  at 
fifty-four  years  of  age ;  because  the  principle  must  fail  in 
its  application  in  every  instance  where  a  man's  life  is  pro 
longed  beyond  that  period.  It  is  true,  that  he  makes  out 
an  average  from  BufTon's  estimate  of  the  duration  of  hu 
man  life,  which  goes  to  fix  that  as  the  average  extent  of 
existence  ;  but  as  the  privilege  of  being  freed  from  the  ob 
ligation  of  pre-contracted  debts  is  claimed  to  be  a  natural, 
inherent,  inalienable  right  of  man,  it  is  not  to  be  regulated 
or  controlled  by  the  laws  of  society.  Indee'd,  if  once  sub 
jected  to  the  laws  of  the  civil  state,  its  natural  character  is 
lost;  for  if  a  majority  of  the  individuals  in  a  community 
can  determine  anything  about  it,  they  can  determine 
everything  about  it.  A  natural  right  is  not  under  the  con 
trol  of  a  majority.  It  adheres  to  the  individual  in  all  situ 
ations  ;  and  nothing  but  the  exercise  of  absolute  despotic 
power  can  deprive  him  of  his  inherent  privilege. 

But  it  may  be  difficult,  in  the  second  place,  to  keep 
every  individual  belonging  to  the  majority  alive  during 
the  thirty-four  years  after  he  has  attained  the  full  age  of 
twenty-one.  Some  of  them  undoubtedly  will  die  ;  and  it 
would  not  be  strange  if  at  least  ha^of  them  should  drop 
by  the  way.  What  would  become^R"  the  principle  in  such 
a  case  ?  and  especially  if  a  whole  generation  should,  ac 
cording  to  the  supposition,  all  be  born  at  a  moment  ? 
That  it  is,  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  phraseology,  the  usufruct 
only  of  the  ground  which  a  living  man  can  claim,  need 
not  be  denied,  because  it  is  certain  that  a  dead  man  can 
neither  till  the  ground  nor  use  its  fruits.  Nor,  in  many 
cases,  can  a  sick  man  do  either.  But  it  does  not  follow, 
that  because  he  cannot  cultivate  the  soil,  nor  eat  its  pro 
ducts,  that  the  right  in  that  soil  belongs  to  the  man  who 


94  THE   CHARACTER  OF 

can  first  enter  and  take  possession  of  it  after  his  death,  and 
hold  it  free  from  all  liability  to  discharge  the  honest  debts 
of  the  former  owner.  This  can  never  be  admitted  until 
the  laws  and  institutions  of  society  are  abolished,  and  men 
are  reduced  once  more  to  a  savage  state.  There  is  no 
middle  ground  where  they  can  meet,  and  live  together  in 
an  uncivilized  and  even  barbarous  condition,  in  which 
every  man's  will  must  be  his  law,  and  every  man's  arm 
his  own  minister  of  justice.  Besides,  if  it  is  to  depend  in 
any  degree  upon  the  votes  of  "  the  society,"  it  yields  the 
whole  controversy;  because  where  men  vote  they  must 
submit  to  a  majority;  and  where  a  majority  govern  by 
general  consent,  it  is  a  civil  state  in  which  all  their  af 
fairs  must  necessarily  be  governed  by  the  general  rule — 
a  rule  to  which  all  must  submit. 

Mr.  Jefferson  does  not  confine  his  doctrines  to  the  mere 
disposition  of  lands  and  the  obligation  to  pay  either  pub 
lic  or  private  debts.  He  goes  far  beyond  this.  He  says, 
"  But  persons  and  property  make  the  sum  of  the  objects  of 
government.  The  constitution  and  the  laws  of  their  pre 
decessors  are  extinguished,  then,  in  their  natural  course 
with  those  whose  will  gave  them  being.  This  could  pre 
serve  that  being  until  ^^eased  to  be  itself,  and  no  longer. 
Every  constitution,  th^^and  every  law  naturally  expires 
at  the  end  of  thirty-four  years.  If  it  be  enforced  longer, 
it  is  an  act  of  force  and  not  of  right." 

The  plain  and  necessary  meaning  of  this  is,  that  no 
constitution  of  government,  and  no  law  enacted  under  such 
constitution,  can  regularly  exist  more  than  thirty-four 
years,  but  every  community  living  under  a  constitution 
formed  and  adopted  by  their  own  voluntary  acts,  will  at 
the  end  of  that  short  period  be  thrown  into  a  state  of  na 
ture,  destitute  of  all  government  and  all  law,  and  every  indi- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  95 

vidual  belonging  to  such  a  community  will,  of  course,  be 
left  to  do  that  which  is  right  in  his  own  eyes.  Agreeably 
to  this  principle,  the  United  States  would  be  now  consid 
erably  advanced  towards  the  end  of  the  natural  life  of  a 
second  constitution — fifty  years  having  elapsed  since  the 
adoption  of  the  present.  The  meaning  of  this  is,  that 
every  country  which  is  favored  with  a  constitution,  formed 
and  adopted  by  their  own  free  choice,  must  have  a  politi 
cal  revolution  every  thirty-four  years ;  and  this  resulting 
from  an  inherent  defect  in  the  very  nature  of  civil  society, 
which  is  incapable  of  establishing  or  forming  any  system 
of  government  which  can  last  longer  than  that  period. 
Nobody  who  sees  such  sentiments  as  these  from  Mr.  Jef 
ferson  can  be  surprised  at  hearing  him,  when  alluding  to 
Shay's  insurrection,  exclaim,  "  God  forbid  we  should  ever 
be  twenty  years  without  such  a  rebellion." — "  What  signi 
fy  a  few  lives  in  a  century  or  two  ?  The  tree  of  liberty 
must  be  refreshed  from  time  to  time  with  the  blood  of  pat 
riots  and  tyrants.  It  is  its  natural  manure." 

But,  it  may  be  asked,  what  would  have  been  the  condi 
tion  of  the  United  States,  if  at  the  time  of  the  organiza 
tion  of  the  new  government,  instead  of  George  Washing 
ton,  Thomas  Jefferson  had  been  placed  at  the  head  of  it, 
with  all  the  influence  and  control  over  a  majority  of  the 
country  which  he  afterwards  acquired  and  exercised? 
The  great  fundamental  principles  of  the  government,  and 
of  course  its  future  direction  and  character,  would  have 
been  regulated  and  influenced  by  a  wild  enthusiastic  the- 
^orist^destitute  of  any  practical  views  oT  national  affairs, 
but  regulated  by  a  visionary  and  philosophical  standard, 
principles  of  the  most  absurd,  preposterous  and  mischiev 
ous  character  would  have  been  established: — such  as 
would  have  plunged  the  public  concerns  into  inextricable 


96  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

disorder  and  would  necessarily  have  terminated  in  inevi 
table  ruin. 

Tucker's  Life  of  Jefferson  contains  Mr.  Madison's  an 
swer  to  the  letter  from  Mr.  Jefferson  to  him,  which  has 
been  quoted  in  this  work.  Much'%s  he  was  devoted  to 
Mr.  Jefferson's  opinions  on  most  subjects,  he  could  not 
yield  to  the  extravagance  of  the  sentiments  which  that 
letter  contains.'  Was  it  to  be  expected  that  men  of  sense 
and  sobriety  would  feel  any  confidence  in  a  man  who  en 
tertained  such  wild,  visionary,  and  impracticable  senti 
ments  as  those  to  which  this  corespondence  relates  ?  It 
is  certain  that  the  federalists  did  not. 

"  As  the  reader  may  be  curious  to  see  Mr.  Madison's 
views  of  this  novel  principle  in  legislation,  an  extract  of 
his  reply  to  the  preceding  letter  is  here  subjoined;  and 
although  we  may  be  disposed  to  question  with  him  both 
the  justice  and  the  expediency  of  such  a  principle  adopted 
without  discrimination,  yet  we  cannot  but  yield  our  re 
spect  to  the  ever  active  spirit  of  benevolence  which  dic 
tated  it.  Mr.  Jefferson's  very  sanguine  temper  was  never 
so  likely  to  mislead  his  judgment  as  in  schemes  for  the 
promotion  of  human  happiness  and  advancing  the  condi 
tion  of  civil  society." 

"New  York,  February  4,  1790. 

"  Dear  sir, — Your  favor  of  January  9,  inclosing  one  of 
September  last,  did  not  get  to  hand  until  a  few  days  ago. 
The  idea  which  the  latter  evolves  is  a  great  one,  and  sug 
gests  many  interesting  reflections  to  legislators,  particularly 
when  contracting  and  providing  for  public  debts.  Wheth 
er  it  can  be  received  in  the  extent  to  which  your  reason 
ings  carry  it,  is  a  question  which  I  ought  to  turn  more  in 
my  thoughts  than  I  have  yet  been  able  to  do,  before  I 
should  be  justified  in  making  up  a  full  opinion  on  it. 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  97 

"  My  first  thoughts  lead  me  to  view  the  doctrine  as  not, 
in  all  respects,  compatible  with  the  course  of  human  af 
fairs.  I  will  endeavor  to  sketch  the  grounds  of  my  scep 
ticism." 

[Mr.  M.  then  copies  Mr.  Jefferson's  main  proposition, 
beginning  with  the  passage  in  his  letter,  "  As  the  earth 
belongs  to  the  living,"  &c.,  and  says,  "  This  I  understand 
to  be  the  outline  of  the  argument."] 

"  The  acts  of  a  political  society  may  be  divided  into 
three  classes :  — 

"  1.  The  fundamental  constitution  of  the  government. 

"  2.  Laws  involving  some  stipulation  which  renders 
them  irrevocable  at  the  will  of  the  legislature. 

"  3.  Laws  involving  no  such  irrevocable  quality. 

"  1.  However  applicable  in  theory  the  doctrine  may  be 
to  a  constitution,  it  seems  liable,  in  practice,  to  some 
weighty  objections. 

"  Would  not  a  government  ceasing  of  necessity  at  the 
end  of  a  given  term,  unless  prolonged  by  some  constitu 
tional  act  previous  to  its  expiration,  be  too  subject  to  the 
casualty  and  consequences  of  an  interregnum  ? 

"  Would  not  a  government  so  often  revised  become  too 
mutable  and  novel  to  retain  that  share  of  prejudice  in  its 
favor  which  is  a  salutary  aid  to  the  most  rational  govern 
ment? 

"  Would  not  such  a  periodical  revision  engender  perni 
cious  factions  that  might  not  otherwise  come  into  existence, 
and  agitate  the  public  mind  more  frequently  and  more 
violently  than  might  be  expedient  ? 

"  2.  In  the  second  class  of  acts  involving  stipulations, 
must  not  exceptions,  at  least,  to  the  doctrine  be  admitted  ? 

"  If  the  earth  be  the  gift  of  nature  to  the   living,  their 
title  can  extend  to  the  earth  in  its  natural  state  only.    The 
9 


98  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

improvements  made  by  the  dead  form  a  debt  against  the 
living  who  take  the  benefit  of  them.  This  debt  cannot 
be  otherwise  discharged  than  by  a  proportionate  obedience 
to  the  will  of  the  authors  of  the  improvements. 

"  But  a  case  less  liable  to  be  controverted  may,  perhaps, 
be  stated.  Debts  may  be  incurred  with  a  direct  view  to 
the  interest  of  the  unborn  as  well  as  of  the  living.  Such 
are  debts  for  repelling  conquest,  the  evils  of  which  descend 
through  many  generations.  Debts  may  be  incurred  prin 
cipally  for  the  benefit  of  posterity ;  such,  perhaps,  is  the 
debt  incurred  by  the  United  States.  In  these  instances 
the  debt  might  not  be  dischargeable  within  the  term  of 
nineteen  years. 

"  There  seems,  then,  to  be  some  foundation  in  the  na 
ture  of  things,  in  the  relation  which  one  generation  bears 
to  another,  for  the  descent  of  obligations  from  one  to  anoth 
er.  Equity  may  require  it.  Mutual  good  may  be  pro 
moted  by  it ;  and  all  that  seems  indispensable  in  stating 
the  account  between  the  dead  and  the  living  is  to  see  that 
the  debts  against  the  latter  do  not  exceed  the  advances 
made  by  the  former.  Few  of  the  incumbrances  entailed 
on  nations  by  their  predecessors  would  bear  a  liquidation 
even  on  this  principle. 

"  3.  Objections  to  the  doctrine  as  applied  to  the  third 
class  of  acts  must  be  merely  practical.  But  in  that  view 
alone  they  appear  to  be  material. 

"  Unless  such  temporary  laws  should  be  kept  in  force 
by  acts  regularly  anticipating  their  expiration,  all  the 
rights  depending  on  positive  laws,  that  is,  most  of  the 
rights  of  property,  would  become  absolutely  defunct,  and 
the  most  violent  struggles  ensue  between  the  parties  in 
terested  in  reviving  and  those  interested  in  reforming  the 
antecedent  state  of  property.  Nor  does  it  seem  improb- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  99 

able  that  such  an  event  might  be  suffered  to  take  place. 
The  checks  and  difficulties  opposed  to  the  passage  of  laws, 
which  render  the  power  of  repeal  inferior  to  an  opportu 
nity  to  reject,  as  a  security  against  oppression,  would 
have  rendered  the  latter  an  insecure  provision  against 
anarchy.  Add  to  this,  that  the  very  possibility  of  an 
event  so  hazardous  to  the  rights  of  property  could  not  but 
depreciate  its  value ;  that  the  approach  of  the  crisis  would 
increase  the  effect;  that  the  frequent  return  of  periods  su 
perseding  all  the  obligations  depending  on  antecedent  laws 
and  usages  must,  by  weakening  the  sense  of  them,  co-op 
erate  with  motives  to  licentiousness  already  too  powerful ; 
and  that  the  general  uncertainty  and  vicissitudes  of  such 
a  state  of  things  would,  on  one  side,  discourage  every 
useful  effort  of  steady  industry  pursued  under  the  sanction 
of  existing  laws,  and,  on  the  other,  give  an  immediate  ad 
vantage  to  the  more  sagacious  over  the  less  sagacious  part 
of  society. 

"  I  can  find  no  relief  from  such  embarrassments  but  in 
the  received  doctrine  that  a  tacit  assent  may  be  given  to 
established  governments  and  laws,  and  that  this  assent  is 
to  be  inferred  from  the  omission  of  an  express  revocation. 
It  seems  more  practicable  to  remedy  by  well  constituted 
governments  the  pestilent  operation  of  this  doctrine,  in  the 
unlimited  sense  in  which  it  is  at  present  received,  than  it 
is  to  find  a  remedy  for  the  evils  necessarily  springing 
from  an  unlimited  admission  of  the  contrary  doctrine. 

"  Is  it  not  doubtful  whether  it  be  possible  to  exclude 
wholly  the  idea  of  an  implied  or  tacit  assent,  without  sub 
verting  the  very  foundation  of  civil  society? 

"  On  what  principle  is  it  that  the  voice  of  the  majority 
binds  the  minority? 

"  It  does  not  result,  I  conceive,  from  a  law  of  nature, 
but  from  compact  founded  on  utility. 


100  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

"  A  greater  proportion  might  be  required  by  the  funda 
mental  constitution  of  society,  if  under  any  particular  cir 
cumstances  it  were  judged  eligible.  Prior,  therefore,  to 
the  establishment  of  this  principle,  unanimity  was  neces 
sary  ;  and  rigid  theory  accordingly  pre-supposes  the  assent 
of  every  individual  to  the  rule  which  subjects  the  minority 
to  the  will  of  the  majority.  If  this  assent  cannot  be  given 
tacitly,  or  be  not  implied  where  no  positive  evidence  for 
bids,  no  person  born  in  society,  could  on  attaining  ripe 
age,  be  bound  by  any  acts  of  the  majority;  and  either  a 
unanimous  renewal  of  every  law  would  be  necessary  as 
often  as  a  new  member  should  be  added  to  the  society,  or 
the  express  consent  of  every  new  member  be  obtained  to 
the  rule  by  which  the  majority  decides  for  the  whole." 
(Vol.  1,  page  291.) 

The  federalists  were  opposed  to  Mr.  Jefferson  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  a  mere  partizan  in  politics,  and  almost 
immediately  after  his  arrival  in  this  country  from  France, 
in  the  year  1789,  he  first  formed  and  then  placed  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  party  opposed  to  the  constitution  and  to 
the  measures  of  the  government  under  general  Washing 
ton's  administration,  and  as  their  leader,  attempted  to  pro 
mote  his  own  ambitious  views  and  interests  by  all  the  means 
which  he  could  devise  and  employ  for  the  purpose.  One  of 
the  most  efficient  of  those  means  was  slander.  The  feder 
alists  believed  him  to  be  capable  of  descending  to  measures 
of  the  most  unworthy  nature  for  the  purpose  of  accom 
plishing  his  favorite  object,  viz  : — his  own  aggrandizement. 
In  their  opinion,  no  man  was  more  fond  of  popularity ;  and 
they  believed  that  no  man  was  less  scrupulous  about  the 
means  he  employed  to  obtain  it.  They  believed  that  the 
world  never  produced  a  more  accomplished  demagogue ; 
and  that  no  man  ever  lived  who  understood  the  art  of  se» 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  101 

curing  popular  favor,  or  of  managing  popular  feeling,  so 
as  to  make  it  subserve  his  own  interests,  better  than  he. 
That  they  understood  his  character  in  these  respects,  will 
be  apparent  to  those  who  will  read  the  following  extracts 
from  his  works. 

In  a  letter  to  F.  Hopkinson,  dated  Paris,  March  13, 
1789,  (vol.  2,  Jefferson's  Works,  page  438,)  he  says— "  I 
am  not  a  federalist,  because  I  never  submitted  the  whole 
system  of  my  opinions  to  the  creed  of  any  party  of  men 
whatever,  in  religion,  in  philosophy,  in  politics,  or  in  any 
thing  'else,  where  I  was  capable  of  thinking  for  myself. 
Such  an  addiction  is  the  last  degradation  of  a  free  and 
moral  agent.  If  I  could  not  go  to  heaven  but  with  a  party, 
I  would  not  go  there  at  all.  Therefore,  I  protest  to  you,  I 
am  not  of  the  party  of  federalists.  But  I  am  much  farther 
from  that  of  the  anti-federalists.  I  approved  from  the  first 
moment  of  the  great  mass  of  what  is  in  the  new  constitu 
tion  ;  the  consolidation  of  the  government ;  the  organiza 
tion  into  executive,  legislative,  and  judiciary;  the  subdi 
vision  of  the  legislative  ;  the  happy  compromise  of  interests 
between  the  great  and  little  states  by  the  different  manner 
of  voting  in  the  different  houses ;  the  voting  by  persons 
instead  of  states;  the  qualified  negative  on  laws  given  to 
the  executive,  which,  however,  I  should  have  liked  better 
if  associated  with  the  judiciary  also,  as  in  New  York ;  and 
the  power  of  taxation.  I  thought  at  first  that  the  latter 
might  have  been  limited.  A  little  reflection  soon  convinced 
me  it  ought  not  to  be.  What  [  disapproved  from  the  first 
moment,  also,  was  the  want  of  a  bill  of  rights  to  guard 
liberty  against  the  legislative  as  well  as  executive  branches 
of  the  government,  that  is  to  say,  to  secure  freedom  in  re 
ligion,  freedom  of  the  press,  freedom  from  monopolies, 
freedom  from  unlawful  imprisonment,  from  a  permanent 
9* 


102  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

military,  and  a  trial  by  jury,  in  all  cases  determinable  by 
the  laws  of  the  land.  I  disapproved  also  the  perpetual  re- 
eligibility  of  the  president.  To  these  poirrts  of  disappro 
bation  I  adhere." — "  These  are  my  sentiments,  by  which 
you  will  see  I  was  right  in  saying,  I  am  neither  federal 
ist  nor  anti-federalist ;  that  I  am  of  neither  party,  nor  yet 
a  trimmer  between  parties.  These,  my  opinions,  I  wrote 
within  a  few  hours  after  I  had  read  the  constitution  to 
one  or  two  friends  in  America.  I  had  not  then  read  one 
single  word  printed  on  the  subject.  I  had  never  had  an 
opinion  in  politics  or  religion  which  I  was  afraid  to  own. 
A  costive  reserve  on  these  subjects  might  have  procured 
me  more  esteem  from  some  people,  but  less  from  myself. 
My  great  wish  is  to  go  on  in  a  strict  but  silent  performance 
of  my  duty ;  to  avoid  attracting  notice,  and  to  keep  my 
name  out  of  the  newspapers,  because  I  find  the  pain  of  a 

little  censure,  even   when   it  is  unfounded,  is  more  acute 

'  •  ^  *  " 

than  the  pleasure  of  much  praise." 

On  the  7th  of  August,  1790,  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  a  letter 
to  M.  Pinto,  says — "  The  new  government  (of  the  United 
States)  has  now,  for  some  time  been  under  way,  and  so 
far  gives  a  confidence  that  it  will  answer  its  purposes." 

On  the  13th  of  May,  1791,  in  a  letter  to  Fulwar  Skip- 
with,  he  says — "  In  general,  our  affairs  are  proceeding  in 
a  train  of  unparalleled  prosperity.  This  arises  from  the 
real  improvements  of  our  government ;  from  the  unbound 
ed  confidence  reposed  in  it  by  the  people,  their  zeal  to 
support  it,  and  their  conviction  that  a  solid  union  is  the 
best  rock  of  their  safety;  from  the  favorable  seasons 
which,  for  some  years  past,  have  co-operated  with  a  fertile 
soil  and  genial  climate  to  increase  the  productions  of  agri 
culture  ;  and  from  the  growth  of  industry,  economy,  and 
domestic  manufactures.  So  that  I  believe  I  may  say,  with 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  103 

truth,  that  there   is  not  a  nation  under  the  sun  enjoying 
more  present  prosperity,  nor  with  more  in  prospect." 

Something  more  than  eighty  pages  at  the  end  of  the 
fourth  volume  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  "  Correspondence,"  are 
made  up  of  what dsfcial led  "Ana"  The  matter  of  these 
pages  is  said  to  have  been  taken  from  "  memoradurns  on 
loose  scraps  of  paper,"  made  by  him  when  he  held  the  of 
fice  of  secretary  of  state.  They  were  preserved,  he  says, 
"  for  their  testimony  against  the  only  history  of  that  period, 
which  pretends  to  have  been  compiled  from  authentic  and 
unpublished  documents."  The  very  first  sentence  contain 
ed  in  them  after  the  introductory  notice  from  which  the 
above  passage  is  copied,  is  as  follows : — 

"  But  a  short  review  of  facts  *  *  *  *  *  will  show, 
that  the  contests  of  that  day  were  contests  of  principle  be 
tween  the  advocates  of  republican  and  those  of  kingly 
government,  and  that  had  not  the  former  made  the  efforts 
they  did,  our  government  would  have  been,  even  at  this 
early  day,  a  very  different  thing  from  what  the  successful 
issue  of  those  efforts  have  made  it." 

In  what  manner  this  blank  should  be  filled,  probably  no 
person  living  knows.  Let  it  be  as  it  may,  it  will  be  diffi 
cult  to  reconcile  the  language  made  use  of  in  it  with  the 
declarations  in  the  letters  to  Messrs.  Pinto  and  Skipwith 
above  referred  to.  But  as  this  is  not  a  solitary  instance  in 
which  Mr.  Jefferson's  remarks  will  be  found  to  be  directly 
at  variance  with  each  other,  a  mere  cursory  notice  of  their 
contradictory  character  will  be  sufficient  for  the  present 
purpose. 


104  THE    CHARACTER    OF 


CHAPTER    VI. 

«.. 

Annapolis  Convention,  1786 — Difference  of  opinion  in  that  body 
between  a  republican  or  kingly  government — Account  of  that 
Convention  from  Pitkin's  History — From  the  Life  of  Jay — At 
tempts  of  the  friends  of  a  kingly  government,  at  the  Convention, 
to  prevent  the  formation  of  a  republican  government,  for  the 
purpose  of  introducing  a  monarchy — The  charge  shown  by  facts 
to  be  unfounded — Only  five  of  the  thirteen  States  represented— 
His  knowledge  of  the  Convention  derived  from  hearsay — No 
proof  of  it  has  ever  been  adduced — The  same  charge  made 
against  the  same  party  at  the  Convention  which  framed  the 
Constitution  in  1787 — The  Ana  utterly  unworthy  of  credit — Mr. 
Jefferson's  enmity  against  A.  Hamilton,  its  origin  and  its  object 
—The  charge  of  monarchical  principles  intended  to  promote 
his  own  interests. 

MR.  JEFFERSON  proceeds  in  his  Ana  to  say  that  "  The 
want  of  some  authority  which  should  procure  justice  to 
the  public  creditors,  and  an  observance  of  treaties  with 
foreign  nations,  produced,  some  time  after,  the  call  of  a 
convention  of  the  states  at  Annapolis.  Although  at  this 
meeting  a  difference  of  opinion  was  evident  on  the  ques 
tion  of  a  republican  or  kingly  government,  yet,  so  general 
through  the  states  was  the  sentiment  in  favor  of  the  for 
mer  that  the  friends  of  the  latter  confined  themselves  to  a 
course  of  obstruction  only,  and  delay,  to  everything  pro 
posed  ;  they  hoped  that  nothing  being  done,  and  all  things 
going  from  bad  to  worse,  a  kingly  government  might  be 
usurped  and  submitted  to  by  the  people  as  better  than 
anarchy  and  wars,  internal  and  external,  the  certain  con 
sequences  of  the  present  want  of  a  general  government. 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  105 

The  effeJI  of  their  manoeuvres,  with  the  defective  atten 
dance  of  deputies  from  the  states,  resulted  in  the  measure 
of  calling  a  more  general  convention  to  be  held  at  Phila 
delphia." 

The  following  account  of  the  Annapolis  convention  is 
copied  from  Pitkin's  Political  and  Civil  History  of  the 
United  States,  (vol.  a,  page  218—19.) 

"  In  January  1786,  the  legislature  of  that  state  (Vir 
ginia)  appointed  a  number  of  gentlemen  '  to  meet  such 
commissioners  as  were  or  might  be  appointed  by  the  other 
states  in  the  union,  at  such  time  and  place  as  should  be 
agreed  upon  by  said  commissioners,  to  take  into  consider 
ation  the  trade  and  commerce  of  the  United  States ;  to 
consider  how  far  a  uniform  system  in  their  commercial  in 
tercourse  and  regulations  might  be  necessary  to  their 
common  interest  and  permanent  harmony ;  and  to  report 
to  the  several  states  such  an  act  relative  to  this  great  ob 
ject  as,  when  unanimously  ratified  by  them,  would  enable 
the  United  States,  in  congress  assembled,  effectually  to 
provide  for  the  same.'  It  was  afterwards  agreed  that  this 
meeting  should  be  held  at  Annapolis,  in  Maryland,  in 
September  of  the  same  year.  Commissioners  from  the 
states  of  Virginia,  Delaware,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey 
and  New  York  only  attended.  Delegates  were  appointed 
by  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island  and 
North  Carolina,  but  did  not  attend.  In  consequence  of 
such  a  partial  representation  of  the  states,  the  commis 
sioners  present  thought  it  improper  to  proceed  on  the  im 
portant  business  with  which  they  were  intrusted.  They 
were  now  more  than  ever  sensible  of  the  necessity  of  a 
general  convention  of  all  the  states,  and  were  also  satisfied 
that  the  powers  of  this  convention  should  extend  to  other 
objects  than  merely  the  regulation  of  trade  and  commerce. 


106  THE  CHARACTER  OF 

They,  therefore,  drew  up  a  report  and  addressj£  to  the 
states,  in  which,  after  stating  the  defects  of  the  federal 
government,  and  that  the  situation  of  the  United  States 
'  was  delicate  and  critical,  calling  for  an  exertion  of  the 
virtue  and  wisdom  of  all  the  members  of  the  confederacy.' 
they  recommended  to  all  the  states  to  concur  in  the  ap 
pointment  of  commissioners  to  meet  at  Philadelphia  on 
the  second  Monday  in  May,  1787,  to  take  into  considera 
tion  the  situation  of  the  United  States,  to  devise  such 
further  provisions  as  should  appear  to  them  necessary  to 
render  the  constitution  of  the  federal  government  adequate 
to  the  exigencies  of  the  Union." 

In  the  "  Life  of  John  Jay,"  (vol.  1,  page  254)  there  is 
the  following  account  of  this  convention  :  —  "In  January, 
1786,  the  legislature  of  Virginia  proposed  a  convention  of 
delegates,  to  be  appointed  by  state  legislatures,  and  to 
meet  at  Annapolis  the  ensuing  September,  to  devise  a 
uniform  system  of  commercial  regulations  which  should 
be  binding  on  the  whole  confederacy  when  ratified  by  all 
the  states.  It  was  to  this  convention  that  Mr.  Jay  alluded 
in  his  letter  to  general  Washington  of  the  16th  of  March, 
1786.  *  The  convention  proposed  by  Virginia  may  do 
some  good,  and  would,  perhaps,  do  more  if  it  compre 
hended  more  objects.' 

<l  The  limited  object  of  the  convention  failed  to  excite 
general  interest,  and  the  required  unanimity  of  thirteen 
states  prevented  much  effort  to  secure  what  was  supposed 
to  be  unattainable.  Only  five  states  were  represented  in 
the  convention,  and  their  delegates  wisely  abstained  from 
taking  measures  in  relation  to  the  subject  for  which  they 
had  been  convened.  They,  however,  took  a  step  which 
led  to  important  results.  They  recommended  a  con 
vention  of  delegates  from  all  the  states  to  be  held  at  Phil- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  107 

adelphia  the  ensuing  spring,  for  revising  the  articles  of 
confederation." 

It  was  at  this  convention,  composed  as  it  was  of  a 
minority  in  numbers  of  the  states,  that  Mr.  Jefferson,  in 
the  passage  above  quoted  from  his  "  Ana"  says,  "  a  dif 
ference  of  opinion  was  evident  on  the  question  of  a  repub 
lican  and  kingly  government,  yet  so  general  through  the 
states  was  the  sentiment  in  favor  of  the  former,  that  the 
friends  of  the  latter  confined  themselves  to  a  course  of  ob 
struction  only,  and  delay,  to  everything  proposed ;  they 
hoped,  that  nothing  being  done,  and  all  things  going  from 
had  to  worse,  a  kingly  government  might  be  usurped  and 
submitted  to  by  the  people  as  better  than  anarchy  and  wars, 
internal  and  external,  the  certain  consequences  of  the  pre 
sent  want  of  a  general  government."  It  is  difficult  to  give 
credit  to  the  assertions  respecting  this  convention  contain 
ed  in  the  foregoing  passage.  In  the  first  place,  as  but  five 
of  the  thirteen  states  were  represented  in  that  body,  they 
could  not  of  course  enter  upon  the  business  for  which  they 
were  appointed.  It  is  therefore  not  to  be  supposed  that 
they  would  engage  in  a  discussion  of  the  comparative 
merits  and  advantages  of  the  two  kinds  of  government ; 
especially  as  they  were  not  sent  on  an  errand  which  re 
quired  such  a  discussion.  The  commission  given  by  the 
legislature  of  Virginia  to  their  own  delegates  was  "  to  take 
into  consideration  the  trade  and  commerce  of  the  United 
States  ;  to  consider  how  far  a  uniform  system,  in  their  com 
mercial  intercourse  and  regulations,  might  be  necessary  to 
their  common  interest  and  permanent  harmony ;  and  to  re 
port  to  the  several  states  such  an  act  relative  to  this  great  ob 
ject  as,  when  unanimously  ratified  by  them,  would  enable 
the  United  States,  in  congress  assembled,  effectually  to  pro 
vide  for  the  same."  Although  this  measure  originated  with 


108  THE   CHARACTER  OF 

the  state  of  Virginia,  its  object,  as  far  as  its  future  opera 
tion  and  effects  were  concerned,  was  general.  The  sub 
ject  referred  to  them,  although  national,  was  exclusively 
commercial ;  they  were  to  agree  on  the  form  of  a  bill 
to  secure  that  object,  which,  when  it  had  received  the 
unanimous  assent  of  the  thirteen  states  in  congress,  was 
to  become  a  general  law.  But  there  being  only  five  states 
present,  they  had  no  power  to  act  at  all ;  and,  of  course, 
separated^  without  doing  anything.  Can  it  be  believed 
that  in  a  body  thus  constituted,  and  thus  situated,  a  ques 
tion  could  have  arisen  on  the  comparative  merits  of  re 
publican  and  kingly  governments  ? 

Besides,  would  Mr.  Jefferson  mean  to  convey  the  idea 
that  Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  New  York  and  New  Jersey, 
to  say  nothing  of  Delaware,  actually  sent  persons  to  repre 
sent  them  on  such  an  occasion  who  were  monarchists  in 
principle  and  feeling?  It  would  be  a  gratifying  circum 
stance  if  the  names  of  those  who  attended  at  Annapolis 
from  those  states  could  be  ascertained,  as  their  political 
standing  and  character  might  probably  be  known.  We 
have  no  doubt  that  they  would  prove  to  be  altogether 
above  even  the  suspicion  of  entertaining  such  heretical 
sentiments  on  government. 

Mr.  Jefferson  proceeds  to  say,  that  the  effect  of  their 
manoeuvres,  that  is  those  who  attended  the  Annapolis  con 
vention,  with  the  defective  attendance  of  deputies  from 
the  states,  resulted  in  the  measure  of  calling  a  more  gen 
eral  convention  to  be  held  at  Philadelphia.  What  ma- 
nosuvring  occurred  on  that  occasion  he  does  not  explain. 
Nor  is  it  easy  to  imagine  what  necessity  there  could  have 
existed  for  the  exercise  of  any,  for  their  duties  were  of  a 
plain  and  simple  kind — the  convention  had  failed,  no  part 
of  the  business  for  which  it  was  appointed  could  be  trans- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  109 

acted,  because  the  object  was  national  and  required  una 
nimity,  and  but  five  of  the  thirteen  states  were  represent 
ed;  and  nothing  remained  for  them,  except  a  measure 
about  which  they  volunteered,  which  was  to  recommend 
to  all  the  states  to  appoint  delegates  to  another  convention. 
This  required  neither  artifice  nor  cunning — it  was  impos 
sible  to  cheat  the  states  on  the  subject  of  the  proposition ; 
and  none  but  a  man  who  valued  himself  for  skill  and  ad 
dress  in  imposing  upon  the  public  mind,  or  a  downright 
idiot,  would  have  ever  dreamed  of  attempting  it. 

Mr.  Jefferson,  probably  aware  of  the  difficulty  of  mak 
ing  the  world  credit  such  an  improbable  account  as  this, 
adds  at  the  close  of  it  the  remark  that,  "  What  passed 
through  the  whole  period  of  these  conventions,  I  have 
gone  O7i  tfie  information  of  those  who  were  menders  of 
them,  being  absent  myself  on  my  mission  to  France." 

This  was  undoubtedly  the  commencement  of  the  system 
of  party  "  manoeuvring^  which  he  afterwards  practiced 
with  such  extraordinary  success  in  his  political  career,  in 
claiming  for  himself  and  his  followers  the  exclusive  title 
of  republicans,  and  stigmatizing  the  federalists  as  mon 
archists;  for  in  the  next  sentence  after  that  above  quoted, 
he  says — "At  this,"  (that  is  the  convention  which  met  in 
Philadelphia  in  1787,  and  formed  the  constitution)  "the 
same  party  exhibited  the  same  practices,  and  with  the 
same  views  of  preventing  a  government  of  concord,  which 
they  foresaw  would  be  republican,  and  of  forcing  through 
anarchy  their  way  to  monarchy.  But  the  mass  of  that 
convention  was  too  honest,  too  wise  and  too  steady  to  be 
baffled  and  misled  by  their  manosuvres."  These  charges, 
of  course,  like  the  former,  must  have  depended  on  hearsay 
evidence.  It  is  a  little  remarkable,  that  no  direct  proof  of 
their  correctness  has  ever  been  adduced,  though  fifty  year« 
10 


110  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

have  now  elapsed,  and  the  whole  generation  of  those  who 
were  members  of  that  body  are  in  their  graves.  These 
"  Ana"  it  will  be  recollected, were  prepared  for  future  use 
from  "  memorandums  on  loose  scraps  of  paper,  taken  out 
of  his  pocket  in  the  moment,  and  laid  by  to  be  copied  fair 
at  leisure,  which,  however,  they  hardly  ever  were."  These 
scraps,  he  says,  "  ragged,  rubbed,  and  scribbled  as  they 
were,"  he  had  bound  with  the  others.  At  the  end  of 
twenty-five  years  or  more  from  their  dates,  he  had  given 
the  whole  a  calm  revisal,  when  the  passions  of  the  time 
had  passed  away,  and  the  reasons  of  the  transactions  acted 
alone  on  the  judgment.  Some  of  the  informations  he  had 
recorded,  he  cut  out  from  the  rest,  because  he  had  seen 
they  were  incorrect,  or  doubtful,  or  merely  personal,  or 
private ;  and  he  would  perhaps  have  thought  the  rest  not 
worth  preserving,  but  for  their  testimony  against  the  only 
history  of  that  period,  which  pretended  to  have  been  com 
piled  from  authentic  documents.  These  "memorandums," 
then,  were  made  and  preserved  for  the  purpose  of  testifying 
against  a  history  of  the  period,  by  which  it  is  to  be  presum 
ed  he  meant  the  life  of  George  Washington,  by  John  Mar 
shall.  What  degree  of  credit  is  due  to  evidence  made  up 
in  this  manner,  and  for  such  a  purpose,  will  be  left  to  the 
common  sense  and  integrity  of  mankind  to  decide.  One 
circumstance,  however,  should  be  borne  in  mind,  that  it  is 
entirely  unsupported  by  any  witnesses  or  proof  except 
the  naked  assertion  of  its  author.  The  reputation  of  Mar 
shall's  work,  then,  may  be  safely  trusted,  on  the  unquestion 
able  evidence  which  it  carries  upon  its  face,  of  its  own  in 
trinsic  credit  and  merit  and  the  unsullied  and  unimpeach 
able  integrity  and  veracity  of  its  author.  Happy  would  it 
be  for  Mr.  Jefferson's  memory  if  his  "  Ana  "  stood  upon 
as  firm  a  basis. 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  Ill 

Mr.  Jefferson  brings  the  same  charge  against  the  con 
vention  at  Philadelphia  that  he  had  before  preferred 
against  that  at  Annapolis.  He  sa^s  the  same  party  which 
had  made  its  appearance  at  Annapolis  was  found  at  Phila 
delphia,  where  they  exhibited  the  same  practices  and  with 
the  same  views  of  preventing  a  government  of  concord, 
which  they  foresaw  would  be  republican,  and  of  forcing 
through  anarchy  their  way  to  monarchy.  In  support  of  this 
declaration,  he  produces  not  a  particle  of  evidence ;  but 
undoubtedly  relies  eiiher  upon  the  hearsay  accounts  which 
he  says  he  derived  from  those  who  were  members  of  the 
convention,  or,  what  is  more  probable,  upon  his  own  pro 
lific  imagination.  Not  a  witness  is  named,  nor  is  any 
source  of  proof  referred  to  except  that  of  hearsay  just 
mentioned.  He  alludes,  however,  to  a  story  that  has  been 
much  circulated  through  the  country,  respecting  a  project 
which  it  was  alleged  general  Hamilton  suggested,  of  a 
system  in  some  respects  more  energetic  in  its  character 
than  that  which  was  finally  adopted  and  incorporated  into 
the  constitution.  There  is  no  room  for  doubt,  that  Mr.  Jef 
ferson,  upon  his  return  from  Europe  and  taking  his  seat  in 
the  national  cabinet,  found  the  reputation  of  general  Ham 
ilton  for  talents  and  patriotism  so  high  that  it  became  an 
object  of  great  importance  with  him,  in  the  prosecution  of 
his  plans  of  personal  ambition,  to  lessen  at  least,  if  he  was 
not  able  to  destroy,  the  popularity  and  influence  of  that 
great  man,  and  to  render  him  an  object  of  distrust  and 
odium.  Whilst  Mr.  Jefferson  was  in  Europe,  he  was  of 
course  entirely  out  of  the  way  of  the  difficulties  and  dis 
tresses  which  the  government  and  the  country  had  experi 
enced  for  several  years  previously  to  the  adoption  of  the 
federal  constitution.  In  the  adoption  of  that  constitution, 
no  person  had  made  greater  exertions,  or  produced  more 


THE    CHARACTER    OF 

important  effects,  than  general  Hamilton.  Whatever 
views  he  might  have  entertained  on  any  particular  topics 
during  the  discussions  in  the  convention  which  formed  it, 
in  its  principles  and  provisions,  as  finally  adjusted,  he  fully 
acquiesced,  and  his  name  stands  among  those  who  signed 
it ;  and  in  procuring  its  adoption  by  the  people,  his  extra 
ordinary  and  almost  unrivalled  talents  were  zealously 
and  successfully  exerted.  To  impair  an  influence  thus 
honorably  acquired,  and  beneficially  exercised,  became  an 
object  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  success  of  Mr.  Jef 
ferson's  views  of  personal  ambition  and  aggrandizement. 
Accordingly,  he  began  a  system  of  political  hostility 
against  general  Hamilton  which  he  never  relinquished 
until  that  object  was  accomplished.  Indeed,  such  was  the 
bitterness  of  his  enmity  towards  that  great  statesman,  to 
whom  the  country  are  under  such  incalculable  obligations, 
that  he  carried  it  on  with  a  somewhat  concealed  but  impla 
cable  malignity,  that  age  could  not  cool  nor  time  abate, 
even  when  he  had  passed  the  age  of  three-score  years  and 
ten,  and  which  finally  accompanied  him  into  the  solitude 
and  darkness  of  the  grave. 

The  great  basis  of  this  warfare  against  talents  and  pat 
riotism  was  the  general  charge  of  a  monarchical  propensi 
ty — a  disposition  to  change  the  republican  system  of  the 
United  States  into  a  monarchy.  In  order  to  render  this 
charge  sufficiently  efficacious,  it  became  necessary  to  in 
volve  in  it  the  other  influential  friends  and  supporters  of 
the  constitution — that  constitution  to  which  Mr.  Jefferson 
had  manifested,  on  various  grounds,  a  decided  opposi 
tion,  but  which  general  Hamilton  and  his  federal  friends, 
associates,  and  fellow-laborers,  against  that  opposition,  had 
by  their  united  efforts  and  by  the  exercise  of  their  wis 
dom,  public  spirit,  and  patriotic  devotion  to  their  country, 
formed,  adoped  and  put  into  successful  operation. 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  113 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Mr.  Jefferson  had  no  regard  for  the  constitution  if  it  stood  in  the 
way  of  his  interests — Treaty-making  power — Opposed  to  Mr. 
Jay's  treaty  with  Great  Britain — Attempts  to  prevent  its  ratifi 
cation — Doctrine  advanced  by  him  regarding  the  power  of  the 
representatives  over  treaties — Letters  to  Monroe  and  Madison — 
Gallatin'Si  and  Madison's  opinions — Livingston's  resolution  in 
the  House  of  Representatives — Arguments  used  on  both  sides 
in  debate — Resolution  adopted  by  House  of  Representatives — 
Mr.  Jefferson's  sentiments  opposed  to  the  constitution,  of  which 
he  seemed  to  be  sensible — His  sentiments  contradicted  in  the 
case  of  the  treaty  with  France,  in  1831 ;  but  urged  against  that 
treaty  by  members  of  the  French  legislature — Livingston  at  this 
time  minister  at  Paris,  and  obliged  to  act  in  opposition  to  the 
sentiments  avowed  by  him  on  Mr.  Jay's  treaty. 

THE  federalists  had  no  confidence  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  re 
gard  for  the  constitution  if  his  interests  or  his  policy  were 
in  danger  of  being  injured,  or  his  views  and  plans  thwart 
ed  by  a  strict  adherence  to  its  provisions  or  its  principles. 

By  the  second  section  of  the  second  article  of  the  con 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  it  is  declared  that  the  presi 
dent  shall  have  power,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent 
of  the  senate,  to  make  treaties,  provided  two-thirds  of  the 
senators  present  concur.  And  in  the  sixth  article  it  is 
provided  that  "  This  constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  which  shall  be  made  in  pursuance  thereof; 
and  all  treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under  the 
authority  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  the  supreme  law 
law  of  the  land."  This  language  is  too  plain,  too  precise, 
and  too  explicit  to  be  mistaken.  Every  person  who  is  at' 
10* 


114 


THE    CHARACTER    OF 


all  acquainted  with  the  English  tongue  knows  that  a  su 
preme  law  is  paramount  over  all  others ;  and,  of  course, 
that  such  a  law  requires  universal  obedience  from  all  de 
scriptions  of  people.  Neither  the  president  of  the  United 
States,  nor  the  senators  or  representatives  in  congress ; 
neither  the  governors  or  legislative  bodies,  nor  the  courts 
of  the  several  states,  are  exempt  from  this  great  and  in 
dispensable  obligation.  The  constitution  itself,  and  the 
laws  made  in  pursuance  of  its  authority,  according  to  the 
provision  just  quoted,  are  laws  of  this  description.  And 
treaties  formed  by  the  president  and  senate,  in  conformity 
with  the  same  clause  of  the  constitution,  are  also  supreme 
laws,  and  require  universal  obedience  and  observation. 

It  will  appear  in  the  course  of  this  work,  that  Mr.  Jef 
ferson  was  most  decidedly  opposed  to  the  treaty  formed  be 
tween  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  in  the  year  1794, 
and  which  was  commonly  called  Mr.  Jay's  treaty.  That 
this  treaty  was  highly  advantageous  to  the  United  States 
was  proved  in  a  most  conclusive  manner  by  its  effects.  But 
it  adjusted  some  of  the  difficulties  between  this  country  and 
Great  Britain,  and,  of  course,  was  viewed  by  the  adherents 
of  the  French  revolutionists  as  unfavorable  to  the  projects 
and  policy  of  that  country ;  and  hence  it  was  very  ill  re 
ceived  by  them,  and  made  the  subject  of  much  party  heat 
and  violence.  In  this  light  it  was  considered  by  Mr. 
Jefferson,  who  was  extremely  hostile  to  Great  Britain  and 
equally  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  Frencb.  This 
will  account  for  the  rancorous  animosity  which  he  felt 
towards  the  treaty,  and,  as  was  perfectly  natural,  towards 
those  who  ratified  and  carried  it  into  execution.  As  it 
had  been  negotiated,  ratified  and  established  in  strict  con 
formity  with  the  provisions  of  the  constitution,  it  could 
not  be  directly  and  legitimately  destroyed  or  evaded.  It 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  115 

therefore  became  necessary  to  devise  some  plan  by  which 
the  end  they  had  in  view  might  be  attained,  and  the  evil 
which  they  appeared  to  dread  might  be  avoided.  Having 
failed  in  their  attempts  to  overawe  George  Washington, 
and  to  induce  him  by  the  force  of  popular  clamor  to  with 
hold  his  signature  from  the  treaty,  the  next  attempt  was 
to  defeat  it  in  the  legislative  department  of  the  govern 
ment,  by  refusing  to  enact  the  necessary  measures  for  car 
rying  it  into  execution.  Accordingly  a  bold  and  decided 
stand  was  made  by  Mr.  Jefferson's  partizans  in  the  house 
of  representatives  of  the  United  States,  as  soon  as  the 
treaty  was  laid  before  them,  and  a  call  was  made  upon 
them  to  adopt  the  measures  necessary  for  that  purpose. 
After  a  long,  animated,  and  highly  impassioned  debate,  in 
which  the  constitutional  right  of  congress  to  withhold  the 
legislative  acts  necessary  to  the  execution  of  a  treaty,  after 
it  had  been  ratified  by  the  president  and  senate,  was  most 
vehemently  urged  and  maintained ;  in  the  end  the  acts 
were  passed,  the  appropriations  required  by  the  stipula 
tions  in  the  treaty  were  made,  and  the  treaty  itself  was 
confirmed  and  established. 

The  doctrine  thus  assumed,  and  which  came  very  near 
being  adopted,  and  the  precedent  established  by  the  house 
of  representatives,  was,  probably,  the  invention  of  Mr. 
Jefferson ;  or,  if  not,  it  received  his  cordial  approbation. 
In  the  third  volume  of  his  works,  (page  318,)  is  a  letter  to 
Wm.  B.  Giles,  dated  Dec.  31,  1795,  in  which  he  says, 
"  I  am  well  pleased  with  the  manner  in  which  your  house 
have  testified  their  sense  of  the  treaty ;  while  their  refusal 
to  pass  the  original  clause  of  the  reported  answer  proved 
their  condemnation  of  it,  the  contrivance  to  let  it  disappear 
silently  respected  appearances  it  favor  of  the  president, 
who  errs  as  other  men  err,  but  errs  with  integrity.  Ean- 


116  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

dolph  seems  to  have  hit  upon  the  true  theory  of  our  con 
stitution  ;  that  when  a  treaty  is  made,  involving  matters 
confided  by  the  constitution  to  the  three  branches  of  the 
legislature  conjointly,  the  representatives  are  as  free  as  the 
president  and  senate  were  to  consider  whether  the  national 
interest  requires  or  forbids  their  giving  the  forms  and 
force  of  law  to  the  articles  over  which  they  have  a  power." 

In  the  same  book,  (page  323,)  in  a  letter  to  colonel  Mon 
roe,  dated  March  21,  1796,  he  says,  "The  British  treaty 
has  been  formally,  at  length,  laid  before  congress.  All 
America  is  a-tiptoe  to  see  what  the  house  of  representa 
tives  will  decide  on  it.  We  conceive  the  constitutional 
doctrine  to  be  that,  though  the  president  and  senate  have 
the  general  power  of  making  treaties,  yet,  wherever  they 
include  in  a  treaty  matters  confided  by  the  constitution  to 
the  three  branches  of  the  legislature,  an  act  of  legislation 
will  be  requisite  to  confirm  these  articles,  and  that  the 
house  of  representatives,  as  one  branch  of  the  legislature, 
are  perfectly  free  to  pass  the  act  or  refuse  it,  governing 
themselves  by  their  own  judgment,  whether  it  is  for  the 
good  of  their  constituents  to  let  the  treaty  go  into  effect  or 
not.  On  the  precedent  now  to  be  set  will  depend  the  fu 
ture  construction  of  our  constitution,  and  whether  the 
powers  of  legislation  shall  be  transferred  from  the  presi 
dent,  senate  and  house  of  representatives,  to  the  president 
and  senate  and  Piamingo,  or  any  other  Indian  Algerine 
or  other  chief.  It  is  fortunate  that  the  first  decision  is  to 
be  in  a  case  so  palpably  atrocious  as  to  have  been  pre 
determined  by  all  America." 

In  a  letter  to  James  Madison,  (page  324,)  and  dated 
March  27,  1796,  he  says,  "  I  am  much  pleased  with  Mr. 
Gallatin's  speech  in  Back's  paper  of  March  the  14th.  It 
is  worthy  of  being  printed  at  the  end  of  the  Federalist,  as 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  117 

the  only  rational  commentary  on  the  part  of  the  constitu 
tion  to  which  it  relates.  Not  that  there  may  not  be  ob 
jections  and  difficult  ones  to  it,  and  which  I  shall  be  glad 
to  see  his  answers  to ;  but  if  they  are  never  answered  they 
are  more  easily  to  be  gulp^ed  down  than  those  which  lie  to 
the  doctrines  of  his  opponents,  which  do,  in  fact,  annihilate 
the  whole  of  the  powers  given  by  the  constitution  to  the 
legislature.  According  to  the  rule  established  by  usage 
and  common  sense  of  construing  one  part  of  the  instru 
ment  by  another,  the  objects  on  which  the  president  and 
senate  may  exclusively  act  by  treaty  are  much  reduced, 
but  the  field  on  which  they  may  act  with  the  sanction  of 
the  legislature  is  large  enough  ;  and  I  see  no  harm  in  ren 
dering  their  sanction  necessary,  and  not  much  harm  in 
annihilating  the  whole  treaty-making  power,  except  as  to 
making  peace.  If  you  decide  in  favor  of  your  right  to  re 
fuse  co-operation  in  any  case  of  treaty,  I  should  wonder 
on  what  occasion  it  is  to  be  used  if  not  in  one  where  the 
rights,  the  interests,  honor  and  faith  of  our  nation  are  so 
grossly  sacrificed ;  where  a  faction  has  entered  into  a  con 
spiracy  with  the  enemies  of  their  country  to  chain  down 
the  legislature  at  the  feet  of  both ;  where  the  whole  mass 
of  your  constituents  have  condemned  this  work  in  the 
most  unequivocal  manner,  and  are  looking  to  you  as  their 
last  hope  to  save  them  from  the  effects  of  the  avarice  and 
corruption  of  the  first  agent,  the  revolutionary  machina 
tions  of  others,  and  the  incomprehensible  acquiescence  of 
the  only  honest  man  who  has  assented  to  it.  I  wish  that 
his  honesty  and  his  political  errors  may  not  furnish  a  sec 
ond  occasion  to  exclaim,  *  Curse  on  his  virtues,  they  have 
undone  his  country.' " 

He  thus  explicitly  approves  the  doctrines  advanced  by 
Mr.  Gallatin  when  discussing  the  subject.     Mr.  Gallatin 


118  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

said,  "  If  the  power  of  making  treaties  is  to  reside  in  the 
president  and  senate  unlimitedly,  in  other  words,  if  in  the 
exercise  of  this  power  the  president  and  senate  are  to  be 
restrained  by  no  other  branch  of  the  government,  the  pres 
ident  and  senate  may  absorb  ill  legislative  power ;  the 
executive  has  nothing  to  do  but  to  substitute  a  foreign  na 
tion  to  the  house  of  representatives,  and  they  may  legis 
late  to  any  extent." — "  He  should  not  say  that  the  treaty 
is  unconstitutional ;  but  he  would  say,  that  it  was  not  the 
supreme  law  of  the  land  until  it  received  the  sanction  of 
the  legislature.  That  the  constitution  and  laws  made  in 
pursuance  thereof,  and  treaties  made  under  the  authority 
of  the  United  States,  are  declared  to  be  the  supreme  law 
of  the  land.  The  words  are,  'under  the  authority  of  the 
United  States,'  not  signed  and  ratified  by  the  president ; 
so  that  a  treaty  clashing  in  any  of  its  provisions  with 
the  express  powers  of  congress,  until  it  has  so  far  obtained 
the  sanction  of  congress,  is  not  a  treaty  under  the  authori 
ty  of  the  United  States.'1* 

"  The  views  of  Mr.  Madison,"  says  Mr.  Pitkin,  (page 
461,)  "  on  this  important  question,  were  generally  in  ac 
cordance  with  those  expressed  by  Mr.  Gallatin." — "  He 
considered  that  construction  the  most  consistent,  most  in 
accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  constitution,  and  freest 
from  difficulties,  which  left  with  the  president  and  senate 
the  power  of  making  treaties,  but  required,  at  the  same 
time,  the  legislative  sanction  and  co-operation  in  those 
cases  where  the  constitution  had  given  express  and  speci 
fied  powers  to  the  legislature." 

One  of  the  persons  who  took  an  active  part  in  the  de 
bates  upon  the  treaty  was  Edward  Livingston,  a  member 
of  the  house  of  representatives  from  the  state  of  New 

*  Pitkin's  Pol.  and  Civ.  Hist.,  vol.  2,  page  460—63. 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  119 

York.  He  contended  with  great  earnestness,  that  it  was 
incident  to  the  power  of  legislation  vested  by  the  constitu 
tion  in  the  house,  that  upon  every  question  coming  before 
them  for  examination  and  decision,  they  must  have  the 
right  of  rejection  as  well  as  of  adoption,  otherwise  they 
were  mere  machines,  with  no  other  powers  in  the  specific 
case  before  them  than  to  register  the  decrees  of  the  pres 
ident  and  senate. 

After  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  in  the  manner  pre 
scribed  in  the  constitution,  this  gentleman  offered  a  resolu 
tion  to  the  house,  "  requesting  the  president  to  lay  before 
the  house  a  copy  of  the  instructions  to  the  minister  of  the 
United  States  who  negotiated  the  treaty  with  Great  Bri 
tain,  together  with  the  correspondence  and  other  docu 
ments  relative  to  the  said  treaty."  In  discussing  this  re 
solution,  says  judge  Marshall,  "  By  the  friends  of  the  ad 
ministration  it  was  maintained,  that  a  treaty  was  a  contract 
between  two  nations,  which,  under  the  constitution,  the 
president,  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the  senate,  had  a 
right  to  make,  and  that  was  made  when,  by  and  with  such 
advice  and  consent,  it  had  received  his  final  act.  Its  obli 
gations  then  became  complete  on  the  United  States,  and  to 
refuse  to  comply  with  its  stipulations  was  to  break  the 
treaty  and  to  violate  the  faith  of  the  nation. 

"  By  the  opposition  it  was  contended,  that  the  power  to 
make  treaties,  if  applicable  to  every  object,  conflicted  with 
powers  which  were  vested  exclusively  in  congress.  That 
either  the  treaty-making  power  must  be  limited  in  its  oper 
ation  so  as  not  to  touch  objects  committed  by  the  constitu 
tion  to  congress,  or  the  assent  and  co-operation  of  the 
house  of  representatives  must  be  required  to  give  validity 
to  any  compact  so  far  as  it  might  comprehend  those  ob 
jects.  A  treaty,  therefore,  which  required  an  appropriation 


120  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

of  money  or  any  act  of  congress  to  carry  it  into  effect,  had 
not  acquired  its  obligatory  force  until  the  house  of  repre 
sentatives  had  exercised  its  powers  in  the  case.  They 
were  at  full  liberty  to  make  or  to  withhold  such  appropria 
tion,  or  other  law,  without  incurring  the  imputation  of 
•violating  any  existing  obligation,  or  of  breaking  the  faith 
of  the  nation.""* 

During  the  same  session,  "  a  resolution,"  says  Mr.  Pitkin, 
"  was  submitted,  [to  the  house  of  representatives]  declaring 
the  constitutional  power  of  that  body  in  relation  to  treaties, 
and  on  the  17th  of  April  was  adopted,  fifty-seven  to  thirty- 
five,  and  entered  on  the  journals.  After  referring  to  the 
section  of  the  constitution  concerning  treaties,  it  declared, 
'  that  the  house  of  representatives  do  not  claim  any  agency 
in  making  treaties ;  but  that  when  a -treaty  stipulates  regu 
lations  on  any  of  the  subjects  submitted  by  the  constitu 
tion  to  the  power  of  congress,  it  must  depend  for  its  execu 
tion,  as  to  such  stipulations,  on  a  law  or  laws  to  be  passed 
by  congress  ;  and  it  is  the  constitutional  right  and  duty  of 
the  house  of  representatives,  in  all  such  cases,  to  deliber 
ate  on  the  expediency  or  inexpediency  of  carrying  such 
treaty  into  effect,  and  to  determine  and  act  thereon  as  in 
their  judgment  may  be  most  conducive  to  the  public 
good.'"t 

That  the  doctrines  which  Mr.  Jefferson  labored  so  ear 
nestly  and  so  zealously  to  enforce  and  establish  were  in  di 
rect  violation  of  the  constitution  will,  at  this  time,  scarcely 
be  denied.  That  a  treaty  which  had  been  formed  and 
ratified  according  to  the  provision  of  the  constitution,  and 
of  course  had  become  a  supreme  law  of  the  land,  could 
still  be  prevented  from  going  into  operation  by  a  refusal 

*  Life  of  Washington,  vol.  5,  page  651. 
f  Pol.  and  Civ.  Hist.,  vol.  2,  page  468. 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  121 

on  the  part  of  the  house  of  representatives  to  adopt  the 
necessary  measures  for  carrying  it  into  effect,  is  not  only 
absurd  and  mischievous  but  degrading  to  the  national 
government.  The  treaty,  having  been  ratified  according 
to  the  plain  provision  of  the  constitution,  had  become  a 
supreme  law,  which  the  house  of  representatives  were 
bound  by  the  most  solemn  obligations  to  obey  ;  and  a  re 
fusal  on  their  part  to  carry  it  into  effect  would  have  been 
a  plain  and  willful  breach  of  the  oath  they  had  taken  when 
admitted  to  their  seats.  And  yet,  Mr.  Jefferson,  from  an 
undue  attachment  to  revolutionary  France  and  a  settled 
spirit  of  hostility  to  Great  Britain,  exerted  himself  in  a 
secret  manner,  but  with  all  his  talents  and  address,  to  in 
duce  that  branch  of  the  national  legislature  to  be  guilty  of 
this  gross  misconduct. 

Nor  was  he  unconscious  of  the  impropriety  of  his  own 
conduct.  By  the  language  made  use  of  in  his  letter  to 
Mr.  Madison,  when  speaking  of  his  argument  on  this 
great  question,  he  acknowledges  that  there  may  be  objec 
tions,  and  difficult  ones,  to  it  to  which  he  should  be  glad  to 
see  his  answers.  But,  he  adds,  if  they  are  never  answer 
ed,  they  are  the  more  easily  to  be  gulWked  down  than  those 
which  lie  to  the  doctrines  of  his  Opponents.  In  other  words, 
he  could  swallow  an  unconstitutional  argument  that  favor 
ed  a  heterodox  opinion  of  his  own  more  easily"  than  he 
could  yield  to  a  constitutional  one  that  would  overthrow 
his  own  unconstitutional  hypothesis. 

The  government  of  the  United  States,  at  a  later  period 
of  its  history,  had  an  opportunity  to  examine  the  sound 
ness  of  the  principles  advanced  and  vehemently  maintained 
by  Mr.  Jefferson  and  his  principal  adherents  on  this  sub 
ject,  in  a  case  where  one  of  the  parties  was  chafed,  and 
where  their  own  pecuniary  interests  were  more  imme- 
11 


122  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

diately  involved.  In  the  case  alluded  to,  France  instead 
of  Great  Britain  was  directly  concerned.  Reference  is 
here  made  to  the  treaty  between  the  government  of  the 
last  mentioned  nation  and  the  United  States,  entered  into 
in  the  year  1831.  By  this  treaty,  France  had  agreed  to 
pay  to  the  United  States  twenty-five  millions  of  francs  as 
an  indemnity  for  spoliations  upon  the  commerce  of  Amer 
ican  citizens  during  the  reign  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte. 
The  treaty  had  been  ratified  by  both  the  parties,  according 
to  the  forms  prescribed  by  their  several  constitutions.  It 
has  been  seen,  that  the  principle  adopted  by  Mr.  JefFerson 
and  his  friends  in  the  house  of  representatives  of  the 
United  States  when  Mr.  Jay's  treaty  was  before  them 
was,  that  when  a  treaty  had  been  ratified  by  the  president 
and  senate  which  contained  articles  that  required  legisla 
tive  aid  to  carry  those  articles  into  effect,  the  house  of  rep 
resentatives,  being  a  branch  of  the  legislative  power,  had 
a  right  to  exercise  their  judgment,  and  to  pass  or  not  pass 
the  necessary  acts  for  that  purpose,  according  as  the  treaty 
was  or  was  not  likely,  in  their  opinion,  to  be  beneficial  to 
their  country.  When  the  treaty  with  France  was  laid 
before  the  legislatiffc  body  of  that  nation  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  an  act  to  appropriate  the  money  necessary  to 
pay  the  indemnity  stipulated  for  in  that  document,  the 
measurer  was  vehemently  opposed  by  a  portion  of  the 
chamber  of  deputies  on  the  specific  ground  advocated  in 
the  house  of  representatives  of  the  United  States  in  the 
case  of  the  treaty  with  Great  Britain,  that  the  treaty  was 
not  beneficial  but  injurious  to  France. 

The  first  person  who  spoke  in  opposition  to  the  appro 
priation  bill  was  M.  Boissy  D'Anglais,  and  the  following 
is  the  fijst  sentence  in  his  speech :  — 

u  If  the  treaty  submitted  to  us  offered  any  real  advan- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  123 

tages  for  France,  if  it  were  established  on  principles  of  jus 
tice  and  reciprocity,  I  should  not  oppose  the  bill  now  be 
fore  you ;  but  as  I  find  in  it  none  of  those  characters,  I 
think  we  should  not  agree  to  the  payment  of  an  enormous 
sum  which  the  unfortunate  situation  of  our  finances  does 
not  allow  us  to  part  with  gratuitously."  On  this  ground 
he  argued  the  question  throughout  his  speech. 

M.  Bignon  made  a  long  and  very  ingenious  speech,  in 
which  he  took  the  same  general  ground  and  made  it  the 
principal  basis  of  his  objections.  In  the  course  of  it  he 
said : — 

"  The  government  of  the  United  States  knows,  better 
than  any  other,  that  in  a  representative  government,  no 
political  convention  containing  a  stipulation  for  any  pay 
ment  whatever  can  be  considered  definitive  until  the  con 
sent  of  the  body  which  has  the  right  of  voting  iho  appro 
priation  has  been  obtained  in  that  particular  stipulation." 

Other  members  adopted  the  same  course  of  reasoning 
in  the  progress  of  the  debate,  but  enough  has  been  quoted 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  the  fact  mentioned,  viz: 
that  the  ground  on  which  the  French  treaty  was  opposed 
in  the  chamber  of  deputies  was  precisely  the  same  with 
that  advocated  by  Mr.  Jefferson  and  his  friends  against 
the  British  treaty. 

At  the  time  when  this  difficulty  occurred  at  Paris  rela 
tive  to  the  execution  of  the  treaty  of  1831,  the  minister 
from  the  United  States  to  the  French  government  was 
Mr.  Edward  Livingston,  whose  name  has  been  already 
mentioned  as  a  member  of  the  house  of  representatives  of 
i  the  United  States  in  179||  and  an  active  opponent  of  the 
measures  necessary  for  the  execution  of  the  treaty  with 
Great  Britain.  As  a  diplomatic  agent  he  found  himself 
under  the  necessity  of  taking  different  ground  from  that 


124  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

which  he  had  occupied  nearly  forty  years  before  in  the 
legislative  assembly  of  his  own  country,  and  assert  princi 
ples  and  adopt  a  course  of  reasoning  not  only  diametrically 
opposite  to  those  which  he  had  advocated  as  sound  and 
legitimate  in  his  earlier  years,  but  precisely  similar  to 
those  used  by  the  federalists  on  Mr.  Jay's  treaty. 

Finding  such  doubts  and  delays  in  the  French  chamber 
of  deputies  in  regard  to  the  execution  of  the  treaty,  the 
executive  branch  of  the  United  States  government  took 
fire ;  and  for  a  considerable  time,  it  was  a  very  serious 
question  whether  we  should  not  be  involved  in  a  war  with 
that  nation  on  that  simple  ground.  But  the  history  of  the 
case  ought  to  be  received  by  the  people  of  this  republic  as  an 
important  admonitory  lesson,  to  be  more  upon  their  guard 
against  the  arts  and  designs  of  ambitious  politicians,  who 
are  more  anxious  to  promote  their  own  personal  and  party 
interests  than  to  consult  the  general  welfare  or  preserve  a 
reputation  for  consistency  either  in  their  principles  or  con 
duct.  Mr.  Jefferson's  system,  if  such  it  may  be  called, 
was  one  of  expedients.  He  always  adopted  the  project 
that  promised  to  be  useful  at  the  moment  in  extricating 
him  from  an  unexpected  embarrassment,  or  in  the  accom 
plishment  of  a  favorite  object,  trusting  to  future  events  for 
what  might  occur.  By  placing  too  much  confidence  in 
his  skill  to  get  through  difficulties,  or  too  great  a  subser 
viency  to  his  management  or  dictation  in  the  case  under 
consideration,  they  suffered  him,  in  his  eagerness  to  carry 
a  favorite  measure,  to  establish  an  important  precedent 
which  not  only  placed  the  government  in  a  mortifying  sit 
uation,  but  came  very  near  implying  the  country  in  a 
calamitous  and  vindictive  war.  And  this  was  owing  to 
his  total  disregard  of  one  qf  the  plainest  provisions  of  the 
constitution. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  125 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

Mr.  Jefferson  a  secret  enemy  of  general  Washington — Ambitious  of 
being  considered  as  the  greatest  political  character  of  his  country 
— Willing  to  concede  to  Washington  pre-eminence  as  a  military 
officer,  but  not  as  a  statesman — Formed  a  French  party  soon 
after  his  return  from  France — Accused  the  federalists  of  British 
partialities — Aristocratic  and  monarchical  propensities — Procla 
mation  of  neutrality— Strongly  opposed  by  the  French  party — 
Extracts  from  newspapers  concerning  it — Attacks  upon  the 
executive  as  the  enemy  of  France — Philip  Freneau  and  the 
National  Gazette — Conversation  between  general  Washington 
and  Mr.  Jefferson  respecting  that  paper — His  enmity  to  Wash 
ington  more  manifest  after  the  Whiskey  insurrection  broke  out 
— President's  speech  to  congress,  November,  1794 — Allusion  to 
democratic  societies  as  the  sources  of  it — Mr.  Jefferson's  opin 
ion  of  insurrections,  November,  1787 — Sentiments  respecting 
the  Whiskey  insurrection — Democratic  societies  and  the  Cincin 
nati — Judge  Marshall's  account  of  the  insurrection,  and  its  sup 
pression — Letter  to  Mazzft — to  James  Madison — Effects  of 
general  Washington's  popularity — John  Jay's  corruption — Let 
ter  to  Aaron  Burr  respecting  Washington ! 

THE  federalists  believed  that  Mr.  Jefferson,  although  a 
professed  friend  of  general  Washington,  was  in  reality  his 
Secret  and  malignant  enemy.  General  Washington  was 
probably  deluded  by  the  frequency  and  the  warmth  of  Mr.. 
Jefferson's  declarations  on  that  subject,  and  for  a  consider 
able  time  believed  that  he  was  what  he  professed  himself 
to  be,  his  sincere  friend  and  warm  admirer.  If  his  pro 
testations  were  insincere  and  hypocritical — and  about  this 
there  seems  to  be  but  little  room  for  doubt — it  is  difficult 
to  assign  a  satisfactory  cause  for  it,  except  those  feelings 
11* 


126  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

of  selfishness  by  which  very  few  persons  were  ever  more 
uniformly  influenced  than  himself.  Mr.  Jefferson's  ambi 
tion  was,  unquestionably,  to  be  considered  and  acknowl 
edged  as  the  greatest  political  and  civil  character  of  his 
country ;  and  whoever  stood  in  the  way  of  his  ambition 
was  of  course  the  object  of  his  jealousy  and  animosity. 
Feelings  of  this  kind  undoubtedly  were  the  foundation  of 
his  unrelenting  enmity  to  general  Hamilton,  and  led 
him  into  the  long  train  of  calumnies  which  have  been  al 
luded  to.  General  Washington's  military  services  and 
character,  brilliant  as  they  were,  gave  Mr.  Jefferson  no 
uneasiness.  He  had  no  disposition  "  to  seek  the  bubble 
reputation  at  the  cannon's  mouth."  That  species  of  fame 
could  not  be  attained  but  through  hazards  which  he  had 
no  desire  to  encounter ;  and  he  was  therefore  willing  gen 
eral  Washington  should  enjoy  all  the  fame  as  a  soldier 
that  he  had  acquired.  But  to  act  the  part  of  a  statesman, 
to  perform  the  duties  of  civil  chief  of  the  government,  in 
his  opinion,  doubtless,  required  greater  acquirements  and 
different  talents  from  those  which  the  latter  possessed. 
Hence  it  will  appear,  that  notwithstanding  many  marked 
expressions  of  esteem  and  respect  are  scattered  along  in  his 
correspondence,  there  is  at  the  same  time  clearly  discov 
erable,  in  various  instances,  a  spirit  of  hostility  which  it 
is  difficult  to  account  for  except  upon  the  ground  which 
has  just  been  suggested. 

.  :It  has  been  shown,  that  Mr.  Jefferson  returned  from 
France  in  December,  1789,  filled  with  enthusiasm  in  favor 
of  the  revolutionary  movements  in  that  kingdom.  His 
partizans  imbibed  a  similar  spirit  from  him,  and  in  a  short 
time  a  strong  French  party  was  formed  in  this  country.  In 
order,  to  conceal  their  real  objects,  under  his  tutelage  they 
soon  began  to  accuse  those  who  did  not  adopt  his  senti- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  127 

ments  and  feelings  and  enroll  themselves  under  his  banner, 
of  British  partialities,  and  of  course,  of  being  aristocrats  and 
monarchists.  And  so  highly  were  the  passions  of  the  coun 
try  roused,  that  there  was  great  danger  that  the  government 
would  be  forced  into  a  war  with  one  country  or  the  other  by 
the  mere  effect  of  party  passion  and  collision.  Foreseeing 
the  evils  which  such  a  state  of  things  must  necessarily 
produce,  and  the  calamities  which  a  war  would  inevitably 
bring  upon  the  country,  general  Washington,  with  that  de 
gree  of  firmness  and  independence  which  ever  marked  his 
conduct,  published  his  proclamation  of  neutrality,  which 
kept  the  country  firm  and  steady,  and  checked  the  pro 
gress  of  things  towards  a  rupture  with  either  nation.  The 
following  account  of  this  measure  is  from  Marshall's  Life 
of  Washington. 

"  A  proclamation  of  neutrality  being  deemed  a  measure 
which  was  rendered  advisable  by  the  situation  of  the 
United  States,  the  attorney  general  was  directed  to  pre 
pare  one  in  conformity  with  the  principles  which  had  been 
adopted.  On  the  22d  of  April,  this  instrument  was  laid 
before  the  cabinet,  and  being  approved,  was  signed  by  the 
president  and  ordered  to  be  published. 

"  This  measure  derives  importance  from  the  considera 
tion,  that  it  was  the  commencement  of  that  system  to 
which  the  American  government  afterwards  inflexibly  ad 
hered,  and  to  which  much  of  the  national  prosperity  is  to 
be  ascribed.  It  is  not  less  important  in  another  view. 
Being  at  variance  with  the  prejudices,  the  feelings  and  the 
passions  of  a  large  portion  of  the  society,  and  being  pre 
dicated  on  no  previous  proceedings  of  the  legislature,  it 
presented  the  first  occasion  which  was  thought  a  fit  one 
for  openly  assaulting  a  character  around  which  the  affec 
tions  of  the  people  .had  thrown  an  armor  heretofore  deem- 


128  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

ed  sacred,  and  for  directly  criminating  the  conduct  of  the 
president  himself.  It  was  only  by  opposing  passions  to 
passions,  by  bringing  the  feeling  in  favor  of  France  into 
conflict  with  those  in  favor  with  the  chief  magistrate,  that 
the  enemies  of  the  administration  could  hope  to  obtain  the 
victory. 

"  For  a  short  time,  the  opponents  of  this  measure  treat 
ed  it  with  some  degree  of  delicacy.  The  opposition  prints 
occasionally  glanced  at  the  executive  ;  considered  all  gov 
ernments,  including  that  of  the  United  States,  as  naturally 
hostile  to  the  liberties  of  the  people ;  and  ascribed  to  this 
disposition  the  combination  of  European  governments 
against  France,  and  the  unconcern  with  which  this  combi 
nation  was  contemplated  by  the  executive.  At  the  same 
time,  the  most  vehement  declamations  were  published  for 
the  purpose  of  inflaming  the  public  resentments  against 
Britain  ;  of  enhancing  the  obligations  of  America  to 
France  ;  of  confirming  the  opinion  that  the  coalition  of 
European  rnonarchs  was  directed,  not  less  against  the 
United  States  than  against  that  power  to  which  its  hos 
tility  was  avowed  ;  and  that  those  who  did  not  embrace 
this  opinion  were  the  friends  of  that  coalition  and  equally 
the  enemies  of  America  and  France. 

"  These  publications,  in  the  first  instance  sufficiently 
bitter,  quickly  assumed  a  highly  increased  degree  of  acri 
mony."  (Vol.  5,  page  408.) 

In  reference  to  this  same  subject,  Mr.  Pitkin,  in  his 
Political  and  Civil  History  of  the  United  States,  says : — 

"  The  prejudices  of  the  people  against  Great  Britain, 
arising  from  recent  as  well  as  ancient  causes  of  controver 
sy,  and  their  partialities  in  favor  of  France,  were  made 
subservient  to  the  views  of  the  leaders  of  the  opposition, 
and  brought  to  bear  against  the  administration  of  the  gen- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  129 

eral  government.  And  though  few  would  openly  declare 
that  the  United  States  ought  to  make  common  cause  with 
the  new  republic,  yet  many  openly  took  part  with  the 
French  minister  against  their  own  government,  and  advo 
cated  measures  which,  if  adopted,  would  necessarily  bring 
them  in  collision  with  the  enemies  of  France.  While  the 
president  was  using  all  the  means  in  his  power  to  preserve 
his  country  from  the  calamities  of  war,  he  was  accused  of 
particular  friendship  for  Great  Britain  and  of  hostility  to 
France,  of  favoring  one  at  the  expense  of  the  other ;  nay, 
was  charged  with  an  intention  of  joining  the  coalition 
against  France. 

"  The  following  extracts  from  two  of  the  leading  and  most 
influential  opposition  newspapers  of  the  day  will  serve, 
among  others  of  a  similar  character,  to  show  the  spirit 
which  prevailed  against  the  father  of  his  country. 

"  As  early  as  July,  1793,  the  National  Gazette,  printed 
at  the  seat  of  government,  and  edited  by  one  of  the  clerks 
in  the  department  of  state,  had  the  following  paragraph — 
'  The  minister  of  France,  I  hope,  will  act  with  firmness  and 
with  spirit.  The  people  are  his  friends  or  the  friends  of 
France,  and  he  will  have  nothing  to  apprehend ;  for,  as 
yet,  the  people  are  sovereign  of  the  United  States.  Too 
much  complacency  is  an  injury  done  his  cause,  for  as 
every  advantage  is  already  taken  of  France,  (not  by  the 
people)  further  condescension  may  lead  to  further  abuse. 
If  one  of  the  leading  features  of  our  government  is  pusil 
lanimity,  when  the  British  lion  shows  his  teeth,  let  France 
and  her  minister  act  as  becomes  the  dignity  and  justice  of 
their  cause,  and  the  honor  and  faith  of  nations.' 

"  It  is  no  longer  possible  to  doubt,  said  the  General  Ad 
vertiser,  also  published  at  Philadelphia,  that  the  intention 
of  the  executive  of  the  United  States  is,  to  look  upon  the 


130  THE   CHARACTER  OF 

treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  which  exists  between  France 
and  America,  as  a  nullity ;  and  that  they  are  prepared  to 
join  the  league  of  kings  against  France."  (Vol.  2,  page 
386-7.) 

This  state  of  things  occurred  during  the  time  of  Genet's 
residence  here  as  the  minister  of  France.  His  conduct,  it 
is  well  known,  was  marked  with  such  a  degree  of  violence, 
illegality  and  insolence,  that  it  became  impossible,  consist 
ently  with  any  regard  to  national  dignity,  for  the  adminis 
tration  to  hold  any  official  intercourse  or  correspondence 
with  him  ;  and  he  was  at  length  at  their  request  recalled 
by  his  own  government.  Whilst  here,  and  recognized  as 
the  representative  of  the  French  government,  among  other 
things,  he  undertook  the  task  of  establishing  "  democratic 
societies  "  in  several  of  the  large  towns  and  cities,  in  imi 
tation  of  the  jacobin  clubs  of  his  own  country,  in  the  ex 
pectation  that  these  institutions  would  be  able  to  exert 
the  same  influence  in  the  United  States  that  their  pro 
genitors  had  exercised  in  France — that  is,  to  overawe 
and  control  the  government.  This  was  to  be  brought 
about  by  inflaming  the  popular  passions,  and  enkindling 
popular  resentment  against  their  own  government.  Such 
was  the  source  of  Jacobinical  influence  and  dominion ;  and 
as  it  had  succeeded  in  that  nation,  it  was  taken  for  granted 
that  it  would  prove  equally  successful  here.  That  they 
were  favored  by  Mr.  Jefferson  is  perfectly  clear  from  his 
own  works ;  and  was  no  secret  at  the  time  of  their  forma 
tion  and  operations.  The  passage  quoted  above  from  the 
National  Gazette,  taken  in  connection  with  other  facts,  is 
sufficient  evidence  of  the  truth  of  this  remark.  The  editor 
of  that  paper  was  Philip  Freneau,  a  clerk  in  the  office  of 
the  secretary  of  state,  whilst  Mr.  Jefferson  occupied  that 
important  station.  Under  the  direction  of  this  man,  who 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  131 

received  a  salary  from  the  public  treasury,  that  paper  was 
one  of  the  most  violent  and  virulent  among  the  democratic 
journals  in  its  attacks  not  only  upon  federalists  and  the 
government,  but  upon  general  Washington  himself.  This 
Mr.  Jefferson  was  perfectly  aware  of,  for  it  was  done  un 
der  his  own  eye,  and  by  one  who  was  employed  by  him 
in  the  public  service.  In  the  4th  volume  of  his  works, 
page  485,  is  the  following  passage : — 

"  May  the  23d.  I  had  sent  to  the  president,  yesterday, 
draughts  of  a  letter  from  him  to  the  provisory  executive 
council  of  France,  and  of  one  from  myself  to  Mr.  Ternant, 
both  on  the  occasion  of  his  recall.  I  called  on  him  to-day. 
He  said  there  was  an  expression  in  one  of  them  which  he 
had  never  before  seen  in  any  of  our  public  communica 
tions,  to  wit,  "  our  republic."  The  letter  prepared  for  him 
to  the  council,  begun  thus  :  '  The  citizen  Ternant  has  deliv 
ered  to  me  the  letter  wherein  you  inform  me,  that  yielding, 
&c.,  you  had  determined  to  recall  him  from  his  mission 
as  your  minister  plenipotentiary  to  our  republic'  He  had 
underscored  the  words  our  republic.  He  said  that  certain 
ly  ours  was  a  republican  government,  but  yet  we  had  not 
used  that  style  in  this  way ;  that  if  anybody  wanted  to 
change  its  form  into  a  monarchy,  he  was  sure  it  wras  only 
a  few  individuals,  and  that  no  man  in  the  United  States 
would  set  his  face  against  it  more  than  himself:  but  that 
this  was  not  what  he  was  afraid  of;  his  fears  were  from 
another  quarter  ;  that  there  was  more  danger  of  anarchy 
being  introduced.  He  adverted  to  a  piece  in  Freneau's 
paper  of  yesterday  ;  he  said  he  despised  all  their  attacks  on 
him  personally,  but  that  there  never  had  been  an  act  of  the 
government,  not  meaning  in  the  executive  line  only,  but 
in  any  line,  which  that  paper  had  not  abused.  He  was 
evidently  sore  and  warm,  and  I  took  his  intention  to  be, 


132  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

that  I  should  interpose  in  some  way  with  Freneau,  perhaps 
withdraw  his  appointment  of  translating  clerk  to  my  office. 
But  I  will  not  do  it.  His  paper  has  saved  our  constitu 
tion,  which  was  galloping  fast  into  monarchy,  and  has 
been  checked  by  no  one  means  so  powerfully  as  by  that 
paper.  It  is  well  and  universally  known,  that  it  has  been 
that  paper  which  has  checked  the  career  of  the  monocrats  ; 
and  the  president,  not  sensible  of  the  designs  of  the  party, 
has  not,  with  his  usual  good  sense  and  sangfroid,  looked 
on  the  efforts  and  effects  of  this  free  press  and  seen  that 
though  some  bad  things  have  passed  through  it  to  the  pub 
lic,  yet  the  good  has  preponderated  immensely." 

This  was  the  man  who  was  constantly  avowing  the 
highest  esteem,  respect  and  even  friendship  for  general 
Washington,  who  was  little  short  of  sycophantic  in  his 
professions  of  regard,  but  who  was  fostering  at  the  public 
expense  a  worthless,  unprincipled  tool  of  his  own,  and  fur 
nishing  him,  by  favor  of  his  own  patronage,  with  the 
means  and  opportunity  of  vilifying  the  man  whom  he  pre 
tended  so  much  to  admire  as  his  own  friend  and  the  great 
benefactor  of  his  country.  Nay,  even  upon  discovering 
that  general  Washington  "  was  evidently  chafed  "  at  being 
the  object  of  such  unmerited  abuse,  and  that  he  was  de 
sirous  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  interference  to  put  an  end  to  such 
calumnies,  and  "perhaps"  that  he  should  dismiss  Freneau 
from  his  service,  he  says,  with  a  manifest  air  of  gratification, 
"  I  will  not  do  it.  His  paper  has  saved  our  constitution, 
which  was  galloping  fast  into  monarchy."  Is  not  this  de 
cisive  proof  that  Mr.  Jefferson  was  the  secret  but  deter 
mined  enemy  of  Washington  ? 

This  spirit  of  hostility  towards  general  Washington 
shows  itself  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  correspondence  more  dis 
tinctly  after  the  breaking  out  and  suppression  of  what 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  133 

has  been  called  the  "  whisky  insurrection,"  in  Pennsyl 
vania.  After  that  disturbance  had  been  quelled  by  a  mil 
itary  force,  congress  came  together,  viz.,  in  November,  1794. 
General  Washington  in  his  speech  at  the  opening  of  the 
session,  after  adverting  to  the  insurrection,  and  in  the  lan 
guage  of  judge  Marshall, — 

"  After  bestowing  a  high  encomium  on  the  alacrity  and 
promptitude  with  which  persons  in  every  station  had  come 
forward  to  assert  the  dignity  of  the  laws,  thereby  furnish 
ing  an  additional  proof  that  they  understood  the  true  prin 
ciples  of  government  and  liberty,  and  felt  their  inseparable 
union,  he  added, — 

" '  To  every  description  indeed  of  citizens,  let  praise  be 
given.  But  let  them  persevere  in  their  affectionate  vigil 
ance  over  that  precious  depository  of  American  happiness 
—  the  constitution  of  the  United  States.  And  when  in 
the  calm  moments  of  reflection  they  shall  have  retraced 
the  origin  and  progress  of  the  insurrection,  let  them  deter 
mine  whether  it  has  not  been  fomented  by  combinations  of 
men  who,  careless  of  consequences,  and  disregarding  the 
unerring  truth  that  those  who  rouse  cannot  always  appease 
a  civil  convulsion,  have  disseminated,  from  an  ignorance 
or  perversion  of  facts,  suspicions,  jealousies  and  accusa 
tions  of  the  whole  government.'  "  * 

This  attack  on  democratic  societies  as  having  had  an 
agency  in  producing  the  insurrection,  was  not  to  be  par 
doned  by  Mr.  Jefferson.  Insurrections  were  an  impor 
tant  part  of  his  political  system.  In  a  letter  to  colonel 
Smith,  dated  at  Paris,  November  13,  1787,  (vol.  2,  page 
267  of  his  works,)  he  says,  "  The  British  ministry  have 
so  long  hired  their  gazetteers  to  repeat  and  model  into 
every  form  lies  about  our  being  in  anarchy,  that  the  world 

*  Life  of  Washington,  vol.  5.  p.  596—7. 
12 


134  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

has  at  length  believed  them,  the  ministers  themselves  have 
come  to  believe  them,  and  what  is  more  wonderful  we 
have  believed  them  ourselves.  Yet  where  does  this  anar 
chy  exist  ?  Where  did  it  ever  exist,  except  in  the  single 
instance  of  Massachusetts  ?  And  can  history  produce  an 
instance  of  rebellion  so  honorably  conducted  ?  I  say  noth 
ing  of  its  motives.  They  were  founded  in  ignorance,  not 
wickedness.  God  forbid  we  should  ever  be  twenty  years 
without  such  a  rebellion.  The  people  cannot  be  all  and 
always  well  informed.  The  part  which  is  wrong  will  be 
discontented  in  proportion  to  the  importance  of  the  facts 
they  misconceive.  If  they  remain  quiet  under  such  mis 
conceptions  it  is  a  lethargy,  the  forerunner  of  death  to  the 
public  liberty.  We  have  had  thirteen  states  independent 
for  eleven  years.  There  has  been  one  rebellion.  That 
comes  to  one  rebellion  in  a  century  and  a  half  for  each 
state.  What  country  before  ever  existed  a  century  and  a 
half  without  a  rebellion  ?  And  what  country  can  preserve 
its  liberties  if  its  rulers  are  not  warned  from  time  to  time 
that  this  people  preserve  the  spirit  of  resistance.  Let 
them  take  arms.  The  remedy  is  to  set  them  right  as  to 
facts,  pardon  and  pacify  them.  What  signify  a  few  lives 
lost  in  a  century  or  two  ?  The  tree  of  liberty  must  be  re 
freshed  from  time  to  time  with  the  blood  of  patriots  and 
tyrants  ;  it  is  its  natural  manure." 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the  man  who  could  talk 
in  this  flippant  and  cold-hearted  manner  about  Shays's  in 
surrection,  or  of  rebellion  in  the  abstract,  would  manifest 
any  uneasiness  or  regret  at  the  whisky  disturbance;  and 
when  he  found  that  general  Washington  made  it  the 
ground  of  serious  charge  against  his  favorite  machinery, 
it  was  very  natural  for  him  to  complain  and  manifest 
symptoms  of  resentment. 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  135 

"  The  denunciation  of  the  democratic  societies,"  says 
he,  "is  one  of  the  extraordinary  acts  of  boldness  of  which 
we  have  seen  so  many  from  the  faction  of  monocrats.  It 
is  wonderful,  indeed,  that  the  president  should  have  per 
mitted  himself  to  be  the  organ  of  such  an  attack  on  the 
freedom  of  discussion,  the  freedom  of  writing,  printing 
and  publishing.  It  must  be  a  matter  of  rare  curiosity  to 
get  at  the  modifications  of  these  rights  proposed  by  them, 
and  to  see  what  line  their  ingenuity  would  draw  between 
democratical  societies,  whose  avowed  object  is  the  nour 
ishment  of  the  republican  principles  of  our  constitution, 
and  the  society  of  the  Cincinnati,  or  self-created  one,  carv 
ing  out  for  itself  hereditary  distinctions,  lowering  over  our 
constitution  eternally,  meeting  together  in  all  parts  of  the 
Union  periodically  with  closed  doors,  accumulating  a  cap 
ital  in  their  separate  treasury,  corresponding  secretly  and 
regularly,  and  of  which  society  the  very  persons  denoun 
cing  the  democrats  are  themselves  the  fathers,  founders 
and  high  officers.  Their  sight  must  be  perfectly  dazzled 
by  the  glittering  of  crowns  and  coronets  not  to  see  the  ex 
travagance  of  the  proposition  to  suppress  the  friends  of 
general  freedom,  while  those  who  wish  to  confine  that 
freedom  to  the  few  are  permitted  to  go  on  in  their  princi 
ples  and  practices.  I  here  put  out  of  sight  the  persons 
whose  misbehavior  has  been  taken  advantage  of  to  slander 
the  friends  of  popular  rights ;  and  I  am  happy  to  observe 
that,  as  far  as  the  circle  of  my  observation  and  information 
extends,  every  body  has  lost  sight  of  them,  and  views  the 
abstract  attempt  on  their  natural  and  constitutional  rights 
in  all  its  nakedness.  I  have  never  heard,  or  heard  of,  a 
single  expression  or  opinion  which  did  not  condemn  it  as 
an  inexcusable  aggression.  And  with  respect  to  the  trans 
actions  against  the  excise  law  it  appears  to  rne  that  you 


136  THE  CHARACTER  OF 

are  all  swept  away  in  the  torrent  of  governmental  opin 
ions,  or  that  we  do  not  know  what  these  transactions  have 
been.  We  know  of  none  which,  according  to  the  defini 
tions  of  the  law,  have  been  anything  more  than  riotous. 
There  was,  indeed,  a  meeting  to  consult  about  a  separa 
tion.  But  to  consult  on  a  question  does  not  amount  to  a 
determination  of  that  question  in  the  affirmative,  still  less 
to  the  acting  on  such  a  determination  ;  but  we  shall  see, 
I  suppose,  what  the  court  lawyers  and  courtly  judges  and 
would-be  ambassadors  will  make  of  it.  The  excise  law  is 
an  infernal  one.  The  first  error  was  to  admit  it  by  the 
constitution;  the  second,  to  acton  that  admission;  the 
third,  and  last,  will  be,  to  make  it  the  instrument  of  dis 
membering  the  Union,  and  setting  us  all  afloat  to  choose 
what  part  of  it  we  will  adhere  to.  The  information  of 
our  militia  returned  from  the  westward  is  uniform  that, 
though  the  people  there  let  them  pass  quietly,  they  were 
objects  of  their  laughter  not  of  their  fear;  that  one  thou 
sand  men  could  have  cut  off  their  whole  force  in  a  thou 
sand  places  in  the  Allegany ;  that  their  detestation  of  the 
excise  law  is  universal,  and  has  now  associated  to  it  a 
detestation  of  the  government ;  and  that  separation  which, 
perhaps,  was  a  very  distant  and  problematical  event,  is 
now  near  and  certain  and  determined  in  the  mind  of 
every  man.  I  expected  to  have  seen  some  justification  of 
arming  one  part  of  the  society  against  another ;  of  de 
claring  a  civil  war  the  moment  before  the  meeting  of  that 
body  which  has  the  sole  right  of  declaring  war ;  of  being 
so  patient  of  the  kicks  and  scoffs  of  our  enemies  and 
rising  at  a  feather  against  our  friends ;  of  adding  a  million 
to  the  public  debt  and  deriding  us  with  recommendations 
to  pay  it  if  we  can,  &c.,  &c.  But  the  part  of  the  speech 
which  was  to  be  taken  as  a  justification  of  the  armament, 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  137 

reminded  me  of  Parson  Saunders's  demonstration  why 
minus  into  minus  makes  plus.  After  a  parcel  of  shreds  of 
stuff  from  JEsop's  Fables  and  Tom  Thumb  he  jumps  all 
at  once  into  his  ergo,  minus  multiplied  into  minus  makes 
'plus.  Just  so  the  fifteen  thousand  men  enter  after  the  fa 
bles  into  the  speech."  * 

It  will  be  recollected  that  this  whole  passage  is  intended 
to  be  a  direct  and  severe  attack  upon  general  Washington  ; 
and  this  founded  altogether  upon  the  measures  adopted  un 
der  his  direction,  to  suppress  the  insurrection,  and  to  ridi 
cule  the  remarks  contained  in  his  speech  respecting  the  de 
mocratic  societies.  Mr.  Jefferson  calls  those  remarks  an  at 
tack  on  the  freedom  of  discussion,  writing,  printing  and 
publishing.  It  is  a  difficult  thing  to  ascertain  how  a  de 
nunciation,  as  he  calls  the  speech,  of  those  associations 
had  anything  to  do  with  the  freedom  of  discussion,  or  writ 
ing,  or  printing,  or  publishing.  But,  as  it  was  the  prac 
tice  among  his  followers,  to  take  everything  that  he  said 
for  truth,  and  without  the  trouble  of  examination,  he  doubt 
less  presumed  this  declaration  would  be  treated  in  the 
same  manner,  and  therefore  thought  it  expedient  to  make 
the  general  charge  against  the  president.  He  alleges,  too, 
that  the  avowed  object  of  those  societies  was,  "  to  nourish 
the  republican  principle  of  our  constitution  ;  "  and  to  show 
the  difference  between  them  and  the  society  of  the  Cin 
cinnati,  he  accuses  the  latter  of  "  carving  out  for  itself  he 
reditary  distinctions,  lowering  over  the  constitution  eter 
nally,"  &c.,  of  which  society  he  says,  "  the  very  persons 
denouncing  the  democrats  are  themselves  the  fathers, 
founders,  and  high  officers."  General  Washington  was 
the  president  of  the  general  society  of  the  Cincinnati — it 
had  been  in  existence  more  than  ten  years  when  this  let-- 
*  Jefferson's  Works,  vol.  3,  page  307. 


138  THE   CHARACTER  OF 

ter  was  written.  It  has  existed  now  more  than  fifty  years. 
Whatever  was  the  avowed  or  real  object  of  the  democratic 
societies,  established  under  the  supervision  and  auspices  of 
one  of  the  most  impudent,  factious,  insolent,  and  mischievous 
diplomatists  that  ever  visited  or  disturbed  the  peace  of  any 
government  or  country.  Mr.  Jefferson  never  saw  the  day, 
and  he  lived  to  a  very  advanced  age,  when  he  could  point 
to  a  single  act  or  measure  of  the  Cincinnati  which  in  the 
slightest  degree  infringed  upon  the  rights,  liberties,  or 
privileges  of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  The  charge, 
coming  from  such  a  source,  and  on  such  an  occasion, 
shows  how  little  regard  its  author  had  to  truth  or  justice, 
when  urged  on  to  any  course  of  conduct  by  apprehensions 
of  danger  to  his  own  interest  or  popularity.  He  professed 
to  respect  and  esteem  general  Washington,  and  was  very 
lavish  of  his  expressions  of  regard  whenever  occasion 
called  for  them.  But  the  moment  that  upright,  independ 
ent  and  virtuous  magistrate,  in  the  performance  of  his 
official  duties,  found  himself  under  the  necessity  of  putting 
a  check  to  the  progress  of  a  mischievous  faction,  led  by 
an  unprincipled  foreigner,  in  the  garb  of  a  minister  pleni 
potentiary,  that  moment  he  was  denounced  as  an  enemy 
to  republicanism,  and  to  the  common  rights  and  liberties 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  country.  The  truth  was,  a  for 
midable  insurrection  against  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
had  broken  out  in  Pennsylvania,  of  which  judge  Marshall 
gives  the  following  account.  After  stating  what  had  pre 
viously  occurred,  he  says  : — 

"  Charging  himself  with  the  service  of  these  processes, 
the  marshal  repaired  in  person  to  the  country  which  was 
the  scene  of  these  disorders.  On  the  15th  of  July,  while 
employed  in  the  execution  of  his  duty,  he  was  beset  on  the 
road  by  a  body  of  armed  men,  who  fired  on  him,  but  for- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON. 

tunately  did  him  no  personal  injury.  At  day-break,  the 
ensuing  morning,  a  party  attacked  the  house  of  general 
Nevil,  the  inspector ;  but  he  defended  himself  resolutely, 
and  obliged  the  assailants  to  retreat. 

"  Knowing  well  that  this  attack  had  been  pre-concerted, 
and  consequently  apprehending  that  it  would  be  repeated, 
he  applied  to  the  militia  officers  and  magistrates  of  the 
county  for  protection.  The  answer  was,  that  *  owing  to  the 
too  general  combination  of  the  people  to  oppose  the  reve 
nue  system,  the  laws  could  not  be  executed  so  as  to  afford 
him  protection :  that  should  the  posse  comitatus  be  order 
ed  out  to  support  the  civil  authority,  few  could  be  gotten 
that  were  not  of  the  party  of  the  rioters.' 

"  On  the  succeeding  day,  the  insurgents  reassembled  to 
the  number  of  about  five  hundred  to  renew  their  attack 
on  the  house  of  the  inspector.  On  finding  that  no  protec 
tion  could  be  afforded  by  the  civil  authority,  he  had  appli 
ed  to  the  commanding  officer  at  Fort  Pitt,  and  had  obtain 
ed  a  detachment  of  eleven  men  from  the  garrison,  who 
were  joined  by  major  Kirkpatrick.  Successful  resistance 
to  so  great  a  force  being  obviously  impracticable,  a  parley 
look  place,  at  which  the  assailants,  after  requiring  that  the 
inspector  and  all  his  papers  should  be  delivered  up,  de 
manded  that  the  party  in  the  house  should  march  out  and 
ground  their  arms.  This  being  refused,  the  parley  ter 
minated,  and  the  assault  commenced.  The  action  lasted 
until  the  assailants  set  fire  to  several  adjacent  buildings, 
the  heat  from  which  was  so  intense  that  the  house  could 
no  longer  be  occupied.  From  this  cause,  and  from  the 
apprehension  that  the  fire  would  soon  be  communicated  to 
the  main  building,  major  Kirkpatrick  and  his  party  surren 
dered  themselves. 

"  The  marshal  and  colonel  Pressly  Nevil  were  seized 


140 


THE    CHARACTER    OF 


on  their  way  to  general  Nevil's  house,  and  detained  until 
two  the  next  morning.  The  marshal,  especially,  was 
treated  with  extreme  rudeness.  His  life  was  frequent 
ly  threatened,  and  was  probably  saved  by  the  inter 
position  of  some  leading  characters  who  possessed  more 
humanity  or  more  prudence  than  those  with  whom  they 
were  associated.  He  could  only  obtain  his  safety  or  liber 
ty  by  entering  into  a  solemn  engagement,  which  was 
guaranteed  by  colonel  Nevil,  to  serve  no  more  process  on 
the  western  side  of  the  Allegany  mountains. 

"  The  marshal  and  inspector  having  both  retired  to 
Pittsburg,  the  insurgents  deputed  two  of  their  body,  one  of 
whom  was  a  justice  of  the  peace,  to  demand  that  the  for 
mer  should  surrender  all  his  process,  and  that  the  latter 
should  resign  his  office ;  threatening  in  case  of  refusal,  to 
attack  the  place,  and  seize  their  persons.  These  demands 
were  not  acceded  to;  but  Pittsburg  affording  no  security, 
these  officers  escaped  from  the  danger  which  threatened 
them  by  descending  the  Ohio ;  after  which  theyf  ound 
their  way  by  a  circuitous  route  to  the  seat  of  government. 

"  The  perpetrators  of  these  treasonable  practices  would, 
of  course,  be  desirous  to  ascertain  their  strength,  and  to 
discover  any  latent  enemies  who  might  remain  unsuspect 
ed  in  the  bosom  of  the  disaffected  country.  To  obtain 
this  information,  the  mail  from  Pittsburg  to  Philadelphia 
was  stopped  by  armed  men,  who  cut  it  open,  and  took  out 
the  letters  which  it  contained.  In  some  of  these  letters,  a 
direct  disapprobation  of  the  violent  measures  which  had 
been  adopted  was  openly  avowed  ;  and  in  others,  expres 
sions  were  used  which  indicated  unfriendly  dispositions 
towards  them.  Upon  acquiring  this  intelligence,  delegates 
were  deputed  from  the  town  of  Washington  to  Pittsburg, 
where  the  writers  of  the  offensive  letters  resided,  to  de- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  141 

mand  the  banishment  of  the  offenders.  A  prompt  obedi 
ence  to  this  demand  was  unavoidable  ;  and  the  inhabitants 
of  Pittsburg,  who  were  convened  on  the  occasion,  engaged 
to  attend  a  general  meeting  of  the  people,  who  were  to  as 
semble  the  next  day  in  Brad  dock's  field,  in  order  to  carry 
into  effect  such  further  measures  as  might  be  deemed  ad 
visable  with  respect  to  the  excise  and  its  advocates.  They 
also  determined  to  elect  delegates  to  a  convention  which 
was  to  meet  on  the  14th  of  August  at  Parkinson's  ferry. 
The  avowed  motives  to  these  outrages  were  to  compel  the 
resignation  of  all  officers  engaged  in  the  collection  of  the 
duties  on  distilled  spirits ;  to  withstand  by  force  of  arms 
the  authority  of  the  United  States,  and  thereby  to  extort  a 
repeal  of  the  law  imposing  those  duties,  and  an  alteration 
in  the  conduct  of  the  government. 

"  Affidavits  attesting  this  serious  state  of  things  were 
laid  before  the  executive."^ 

Although  the  government  had  endeavored  for  more  than 
three  years  to  conciliate  this  spirit,  but  without  success, 
and  it  had  become  absolutely  necessary  to  suppress  it  or 
to  let  the  power  of  the  nation  fall  before  it,  presenting  an 
alternative  respecting  which  George  Washington  could  not 
for  a  moment  hesitate ;  yet,  before  proceeding  to  extremi 
ties,  he  moved  towards  his  ultimate  object  with  the  utmost 
caution,  taking  every  step  required  by  law,  and  finally  is 
suing  a  proclamation,  in  which,  after  recapitulating  the 
measures  which  the  government  had  adopted,  he  informed 
the  insurgents  that  in  his  judgment  it  "  was  necessary  to 
take  measures  for  calling  forth  the  militia  in  order  to  sup 
press  the  combinations  aforesaid,  and  to  cause  the  laws  to 
be  duly  executed,  and  he  had  accordingly  determined  so 
to  do ;  feeling  the  deepest  regret  for  the  occasion,  but  with- 

*  Life  of  Washington,  vol.  5,  page  583. 


142  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

al  the  most  solemn  conviction  that  the  essential  interests 
of  the  Union  demanded  it ;  that  the  very  existence  of  gov 
ernment,  and  the  fundamental  principles  of  social  order 
were  involved  in  the  issue ;  and  that  the  patriotism  and 
firmness  of  all  good  citizens  were  seriously  called  upon  to 
aid  in  the  suppression  of  so  fatal  a  spirit."^ 

After  noticing  the  measures  taken  to  order  out  a  body 
of  militia,  judge  Marshall  says  : — 

"  Meanwhile  the  insurgents  omitted  nothing  which 
might  enlarge  the  circle  of  disaffection.  Attempts  were 
made  to  embark  the  adjacent  counties  of  Virginia  in  their 
cause,  and  their  violence  was  extended  to  Morgantown, 
at  which  place  an  inspector  resided,  who  saved  himself 
by  flight,  and  protected  his  property  by  advertising  on 
his  own  door  that  he  had  resigned  his  office.  They  also 
made  similar  excursions  into  the  contiguous  counties  of 
Pennsylvania  lying  east  of  the  Allegany  mountains  where 
numbers  were  ready  to  join  them.  These  deluded  men, 
giving  too  much  faith  to  the  publications  of  democratic 
societies,  and  to  the  furious  sentiments  of  general  hostility 
to  the  administration,  and  particularly  to  the  internal  taxes, 
with  which  the  papers  in  the  opposition  abounded,  seem 
to  have  entertained  the  opinion,  that  the  great  body  of  the 
people  were  ready  to  take  up  arms  against  their  govern 
ment,  and  that  the  resistance  commenced  by  them  would 
spread  throughout  the  Union,  and  might  terminate  in  a 
revolution."! 

This  is  a  concise  history  of  the  proceedings  for  the  sup 
pression  of  this  formidable  insurrection, — a  disturbance 
which  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  the  quotation  from  a  letter  ad 
dressed  to  James  Madison,  speaks  of  as  an  affair  which, 

*  Life  of  Washington,  vol.  5,  page  585. 
f  Life  of  Washington,  vol.  5,  page  586. 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  143 

• 

according  to  the  definitions  of  law,  was  nothing  more  than 
riotous.  He  acknowledges,  indeed,  that  there  was  a  meet 
ing  to  consult  about  a  separation  of  the  Union ;  but  he 
says,  "  to  consult  on  a  question,  does  not  amount  to  a  de 
termination  of  that  question  in  the  affirmation,  still  less  to 
the  acting  on  such  a  determination."  But,  he  says  "  we 
shall  see  what  court  lawyers,  and  courtly  judges,  and 
would-be  ambassadors  will  make  of  it."  And  then  he 
adds,  as  a  decisive  proof  of  his  feelings  towards  the  case, 
and  especially  towards  the  government,  which  had  taken 
measures  to  suppress  it,  "  The  excise  law  is  an  infernal 
one." 

The  course  pursued  and  the  measures  resorted  to  by 
general  Washington  for  putting  down  this  insurrection, 
which,  as  has  been  seen,  threatened  the  very  existence  of 
the  Union  and  the  government,  indicated  not  only  great 
firmness  in  the  performance  of  his  official  duty,  but  a  high 
degree  of  attachment  to  the  constitution  and  country,  as 
well  as  a  manifestation  of  public  spirit  and  patriotism — 
but  it  is  very  apparent,  that  when  he  stood  in  the  way  of 
Mr.  Jefferson's  notions  of  freedom,  and  showed  a  disposi 
tion  to  still  the  turbulent  waves  of  his  "  tempestuous  sea 
of  liberty,"  his  professions  of  friendship  and  admiration 
vanished  into  air;  and  he  was  so  much  disturbed  at  see 
ing  the  influence  of  the  jacobin  clubs  of  this  country  de 
stroyed  that  he  expected,  in  a  case  in  which  the  president 
merited  and  received  from  all  the  real  friends  of  the  con 
stitution  and  government  the  warmest  testimonials  of  ap 
probation,  "  some  justification  for  arming  one  part  of  socie 
ty  against  another  ;  of  declaring  civil  war  the  moment  be 
fore  the  meeting  of  that  body  which  has  the  sole  right  of 
declaring  war ;  of  being  so  patient  of  the  kicks  and  scoffs 
of  our  enemies,  and  rising  at  a  feather  against  our  friends," 


144  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

• 

Having,  as  has  been  shown,  entered  upon  the  task  of 
calumniating  general  Washington,  Mr.  Jefferson  after 
wards  became  more  direct  in  his  attacks  upon  his  reputa 
tion.  In  his  famous  letter  to  Mazzoi,  he  charges  him  ex 
plicitly  with  belonging  to  an  Anglo-monarchic-aristocratic 
party.  "  We  have,"  says  he,  "  against  us  (republicans) 
the  executive  power"  General  Washington  constituting 
at  that  time  the  executive  branch  of  the  government,  there 
is  no  room  for  Mr.  Jefferson  to  escape  from  the  charge  of 
slandering  that  great  man.  Even  in  the  version  of  this 
letter,  as  published  in  his  works  since  his  death,  and  which 
was  manifestly  prepared  for  the  inspection  of  the  public 
and  of  future  generations,  he  does  not  attempt  to  explain 
away  this  expression.  He  says  "  against  us  republicans 
are  the  executive,  the  judiciary,"  &c.  In  both,  the  accusa 
tion,  in  plain  terms,  is,  that  general  Washington  had  become 
an  English  monarchist  and  aristocrat  in  his  feelings  and 
sentiments,  and  of  course  was  opposed  to  Mr.  Jefferson 
and  his  friends,  who  were  republicans.  No  man  who  was 
as  well  acquainted  with  general  Washington's  history  as 
Mr.  Jefferson  was,  and  possessed  common  honesty,  could 
have  charged  him  with  monarchical  principles,  or  anti-re 
publican  propensities.  And  yet  here  such  a  charge  is  direct 
ly  made  by  a  man  thoroughly  informed  of  his  character 
and  conduct — one  who  professed  himself  to  be  his  sincere 
friend  and  ardent  admirer.  A  specimen  of  the  warmth  of 
his  manner  of  making  professions  to  him,  before  the  date 
of  the  Mazzoi  letter,  may  be  found  in  the  third  volume  of 
his  works,  page  306,  in  a  letter  to  the  secretary  of  state, 
dated  September  7,  1794 — about  a  year  and  a  half  before 
the  date  of  the  Mazzoi  letter,  and  a  little  more  than  three 
months  before  the  date  of  the  letter  on  the  denunciation  of 
democratic  societies,  and  the  whisky  insurrection — "  It  is 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  145 

a  great  pleasure  to  me,"  says  he,  "  to  retain  the  esteem  and 
approbation  of  the  president,  and  this  forms  the  only 
ground  of  any  reluctance  at  being  unable  to  comply  with 
every  wish  of  his.  Pray  convey  these  sentiments  and  a 
thousand  more  to  him  which  my  situation  does  not  permit 
me  to  go  into." 

In  a  letter  to  James  Madison,  however,  dated  March 
27,  1796,  just  before  the  date  of  the  Mazzei  letter,  when 
urging  that  gentleman  to  the  adoption  of  certain  principles 
in  relation  to  the  treaty-making  power  in  the  constitution, 
and  in  allusion  to  Mr.  Jay's  treaty,  as  it  is  commonly  call 
ed,  he  says, — "  If  you  decide  in  favor  of  your  right  to  re 
fuse  co-operation  in  any  case  of  treaty,  I  should  wonder  on 
what  occasion  it  is  to  be  used  if  not  in  one  where  the 
rights,  the  interest,  the  honor  and  faith  of  our  nation  are 
so  grossly  sacrificed ;  where  a  faction  has  entered  into  a 
conspiracy  with  the  enemies  of  their  country  to  chain  down 
the  legislature  at  the  feet  of  both ;  where  the  whole  mass 
of  your  constituents  have  condemned  this  work  in  the  most 
unequivocal  manner,  and  are  looking  to  you  as  their  last 
hope  to  save  them  from  the  effects  of  the  avarice  and  cor 
ruption  of  the  first  agent,  the  revolutionary  machinations 
of  others,  and  the  incomprehensible  acquiescence  of  the 
only  honest  man  who  has  assented  to  it.  /  wish  that  his 
honesty  and  his  political  errors  may  not  furnish  a  second 
occasion  to  exclaim,  '  curse  on  his  virtues,  they  have  un- 
donehis  country.'' " 

The  "  first  agent,"  here,  who  is  charged  with  "  avarice 
and  corruption,"  undoubtedly  means  John  Jay,  who  nego 
tiated  the  treaty  which  called  forth  this  ebullition  of  froth 
and  passion.  Mr.  Jay  was  one  of  the  most  pure,  disinter 
ested,  public-spirited,  able  and  virtuous  patriots  and  states- 
13 


146  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

men  which  this  country  ever  produced ;  and  who,  in  this 
very  instance,  negotiated  one  of  the  most  valuable  treaties 
that  the  United  States  have  ever  entered  into  with  any 
foreign  power.  And  it  was  for  assenting  to  and  signing 
this  treaty,  that  Mr.  Jefferson  broke  out  in  the  manner 
above  recited.  The  secret  of  his  opposition  to  this  treaty 
was,  an  impression  he  had  imbibed  that  it  was  favorable 
to  Great  Britain  and  of  course  injurious  to  France;  and 
that  consideration  alone  was  sufficient  to  give  rise  to  his 
hostility  to  it,  and  to  excite  a  spirit  of  enmity  to  general 
Washington  himself,  even  if  it  had  not  previously  existed. 

But  Mr.  Jefferson's  correspondence  contains  further 
evidence  that  he  was  hollow-hearted  in  his  professions  of 
friendship  for  general  Washington.  In  a  letter  to  colonel 
Burr,  dated  June  17,  1797,  he  says  : — 

"  I  had  always  hoped  that  the  popularity  of  the  late  pres 
ident  being  once  withdrawn  from  active  effect,  the  natural 
feelings  of  the  people  towards  liberty  would  restore  the 
equilibrium  between  the  executive  and  legislative  depart 
ments,  which  had  been  destroyed  by  the  superior  weight 
and  effect  of  that  popularity  ;  and  that  their  natural  feel 
ings  of  moral  obligation  would  discountenance  the  un 
grateful  predilection  of  the  executive  in  favor  of  Great 
Britain,  But,  unfortunately,  the  preceding  measures  had 
already  alienated  the  nation  who  were  the  object  of  them, 
had  excited  reaction  from  them,  and  this  reaction  has  on 
the  minds  of  our  citizens  an  effect  which  supplies  that  of 
the  Washington  popularity.  This  effect  was  sensible  on 
some  of  the  late  congressional  elections,  and  this  it  is 
which  has  lessened  the  republican  majority  in  congress. 
When  it  will  be  reinforced  must  depend  on  events,  and 
these  are  so  incalculable  that  I  consider  the  future  char 
acter  of  our  republic  as  in  the  air;  indeed  its  future  for- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  147 

tune  will  be  in  the  air  if  war  is  made  on  us  by  France, 
and  if  Louisiana  becomes  a  Gallo-American  colony." 

It  is  perfectly  obvious  that  Mr.  Jefferson  considered 
general  Washington's  popularity — notwithstanding  it  was 
the  result  of  greater  public  services  than  any  other  man 
ever  rendered  the  country,  and  was  founded  upon  the 
purest  morals,  the  utmost  disinterestedness,  and  the  high 
est  degree  of  personal  worth  and  political  integrity  and 
virtue— as  a  great  public  calamity ;  and  the  evil  consisted 
in  the  fact,  that  we  had  been  preserved  from  a  close  and 
intimate  alliance  with  France  during  the  most  stormy  and 
sanguinary  periods  of  her  revolutionary  career.  And  he 
mourns,  with  great  apparent  sincerity,  that  his  relinquish- 
ment  of  public  office  and  return  to  private  life  had  not 
been  attended  with  the  consequences  that  he  had  antici 
pated  ;  for  the  people  had  not  so  suddenly  forgotten  his 
eminent  services,  and  their  obligations  to  him  for  benefits 
which  no  other  man  ever  had  rendered,  and  which  there 
was  very  little  probability  that  any  other  man  would  ever 
have  it  in  his  power  to  render  to  the  country.  The  truth 
was,  the  people  had  not,  at  their  elections,  strengthened 
the  democratic  party  in  the  house  of  representatives  as  he 
expected,  which  was  what  he  meant  by  restoring  the  equi 
librium  between  the  executive  and  legislative  departments. 

Having  seen  what  sentiments  Mr.  Jefferson  at  different 
times  entertained  of  general  Washington's  measures  and 
conduct,  the  charge  of  monarchical  principles  directly  al 
leged  against  him  in  the  letter  to  Mazzei,  the  support  af 
forded  Freneau  in  carrying  on  his  newspaper,  in  which 
general  Washington  was  constantly  and  grossly  traduced 
as  being  under  British  influence,  having  British  principles 
and  propensities,  with  being,  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  own  lan 
guage,  an  Anglo-man,  and,  in  frequent  suggessions,  that 


148  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

his  object  was  to  change  our  republican  system  into  a  mo 
narchical  one — what  will  every  frank,  upright,  unbiased 
mind  think  of  this  great  professed  champion  of  republican 
ism,  freedom,  and  all  that  goes  to  make  the  man  of  the 
people,  at  hearing  him  say  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Melish,  dated 
January  13,  1813  — 

"  You  expected  to  discover  the  difference  of  our  party 
principles  in  general  Washington's  valedictory  and  my 
inaugural  address.  Not  at  all.  General  Washington 
did  not  harbor  one  principle  of  federalism.  He  was 
neither  an  Anglo-man,  a  monarchist  nor  a  separatist. 
He  sincerely  wished  the  people  to  have  as  much  self- 
government  as  they  were  competent  to  exercise  them 
selves.  The  only  point  on  which  he  and  I  ever  differed 
in  opinion  was,  that  I  had  more  confidence  than  he  had 
in  the  natural  integrity  and  discretion  of  the  people,  and 
in  the  safety  and  extent  to  which  they  might  trust  them 
selves  with  a  control  over  their  government.  He  has  as 
severated  to  me  a  thousand  times  his  determination  that 
the  existing  government  should  have  a  fair  trial,  and  that 
in  support  of  it  he  would  spend  the  last  drop  of  his  blood. 
He  did  this  the  more  repeatedly  because  he  knew  general 
Hamilton's  political  bias  and  my  apprehensions  from  it. 
It  is  a  mere  calumny,  therefore,  in  the  monarchists  to  as 
sociate  general  Washington  with  their  principles.  But 
that  may  have  happened  in  this  case  which  has  been  often 
seen  in  ordinary  cases,  that,  by  often  repeating  an  untruth 
men  come  to  believe  it  themselves.  It  is  a  mere  artifice  in 
this  party  to  bolster  themselves  up  on  the  revered  name 
of  that  first  of  our  worthies."  * 

"  The  only  point  on  which  he  and  I  ever  differed  in 
opinion  was,  that  I  had  more  confidence  than  he  in  the 

*  Jefferson's  Works,  vol.  5,  page  185. 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  149 

natural'integrity  of  the  people,  and  in  the  safety  and  ex 
tent  to  which  they  might  trust  themselves  with  a  control 
over  their  government."  Did  not  general  Washington 
and  he  differ  about  the  funding  system,  the  assumption  of 
the  state  debts,  on  the  proclamation  of  neutrality,  on  the 
British  treaty,  on  the  necessity  of  suppressing  the  whisky 
insurrection  and  the  means  adopted  for  that  purpose  ? 
Whether  Mr.  Jefferson  came  to  this  conclusion  by  often 
repeating  the  same  idea  until  he  believed  it,  according  to 
the  rule  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  extract,  or  not,  cannot 
now  be  determined ;  but  it  appears  to  be  a  case  that  falls 
very  naturally  within  the  scope  of  the  maxim  he  has  there 
laid  down. 

13* 


150  THE    CHARACTER    OF 


CHAPTER    IX. 

Mr.  Jefferson  afraid  to  attack  general  Washington's  character 
openly — Letter  to  W.  Jones,  January,  1814,  a  specimen  of  his 
insidiousness — Great  body  of  republicans  think  of  Washington 
as  he  does — His  belief  that  we  should  eventually  come  to  some 
thing  like  the  British  constitution  had  some  weight  in  his  adopt 
ing  levees,  &c. — Pains  taken  by  the  federalists  to  make  him 
View  Jefferson  as  a  theorist,  &c. — Jefferson  never  saw  Wash 
ington  after  the  former  left  the  state  department,  otherwise  these 
impressions  would  have  been  dissipated — Letter  from  Jefferson 
to  M.  Van  Buren,  June,  1824 — Notice  of  charges  in  a  work 
published  by  T.  Pickering— Letter  to  Mazzei — Not  a  word  in 
that  letter  that  would  not  be  approved  by  every  republican  in 
the  United  States — Not  a  word  in  that  letter  about  France — By 
forms  of  British  government  wras  meant  levees,  &c. — Subject  of 
ceremonies  at  Washington's  second  election  referred  to  heads  of 
departments — Jefferson  and  Hamilton  thought  there  was  too 
much  ceremony — The  phrase,  "  Samson 's  in  the  field,"  meant  the 
society  of  the  Cincinnati — Jefferson  says  general  Washington 
knew  this — Never  had  any  reason  to  believe  that  general  Wash 
ington's  feelings  towards  him  ever  changed — Washington  a  sin 
cere  friend  to  the  republican  principle — Knew  Jefferson's  suspi 
cions  of  Hamilton — After  the  retirement  of  his  first  cabinet,  gene 
ral  Washington  fell  into  federal  hands — Remarks  on  this  letter. 

THAT  Mr.  Jefferson  was  afraid  to  run  the  risk  of  openly 
attacking  general  Washington's  principles  or  character  is 
beyond  a  doubt.  But  that  he  took  every  opportunity,  by 
insinuations,  suggestions,  and  various  other  means  which 
no  other  man  ever  knew  how  to  employ  with  so  much 
effect,  to  depreciate  his  understanding  and  talents,  to  lower 
him  in  the  estimation  of  those  with  whom  he  was  inti- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  151 

mate,  to  make  him  the  object  of  party  animosity  and  news 
paper  rancor  and  calumny — and  this  with  so  much  art  and 
address  as  to  make  it  appear  to  a  cursory  observer  that  he 
was  his  sincere  admirer  and  friend — cannot  be  doubted. 

And  such  was  emphatically  the  course  which  he  pursued 
towards  his  memory  when  he  was  preparing  materials  for 
future  generations  to  read,  and  which  he  doubtless  intend 
ed  should  form  the  basis  of  their  opinions  respecting  his 
own  talents  and  character.  At  page  234  of  the  fourth 
volume  of  his  posthumous  works  is  a  letter  to  Dr.  Walter 
Jones,  dated  January  2,  1814,  which  furnishes  a  remark 
able  specimen  of  the  manner  in  which  Mr.  Jefferson  could 
exercise  his  ingenuity  in  praising  general  Washington  in 
one  breath  and  in  taking  off  the  force  of  what  he  had  said 
in  his  favor  in  the  next.  It  is  as  follows  :  — 

"  You  say  that  in  taking  general  Washington  on  your 
shoulders  to  bear  him  harmless  through  the  federal  coali 
tion,  you  encounter  a  perilous  topic.  I  do  not  think  so. 
You  have  given  the  genuine  history  of  the  course  of  his 
mind  through  the  trying  scenes  in  which  it  was  engaged, 
and  of  the  seductions  by  which  it  was  deceived  but  not 
depraved.  [  think  I  knew  general  Washington  intimately 
and  thoroughly,  and  were  I  called  on  to  delineate  his 
character  it  should  be  in  terms  like  these. 

"  His  mind  was  great  and  powerful,  though  not  so  acute 
as  that  of  a  Newton,  Bacon  or  Locke ;  and  as  far  as  he 
saw  no  judgment  ever  was  sounder.  It  was  slow  in  ope 
ration,  being  little  aided  by  invention  or  imagination,  but 
sure  in  conclusion.  Hence  the  common  remark  of  his 
officers  of  the  advantages  he  derived  from  councils  of  war 
where,  hearing  all  suggestions,  he  selected  whatever  was 
best ;  and  certainly  no  general  ever  planned  his  battles 
more  judiciously.  But  if  deranged  during  the  course  of 


152  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

the  action,  if  any  member  of  his  plan  was  dislocated  by  sud 
den  circumstances,  he  was  slow  in  readjustment.  The 
consequence  was,  that  he  often  failed  in  the  field,  and 
rarely  against  an  enemy  in  station,  as  at  Boston  and  York. 
He  was  incapable  of  fear,  meeting  personal  dangers  with 
the  calmest  unconcern.  Perhaps  the  strongest  feature  in 
his  character  was  prudence,  never  acting  until  every  cir 
cumstance,  every  consideration  was  maturely  weighed  ;  re 
fraining  if  he  saw  a  doubt,  but,  when  once  decided,  going 
through  with  his  purpose  whatever  obstacles  opposed.  His 
integrity  was  mdst  pure,  his  justice  the  most  inflexible  I 
have  ever  known — no  motives  of  interest  or  consanguinity, 
of  friendship  or  hatred,  being  able  to  bias  his  decision.  He 
was,  indeed,  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  a  wise,  a  good, 
and  a  great  man.  His  temper  was  naturally  irritable  and 
high-toned,  but  reflection  and  resolution  had  obtained  a 
firm  and  habitual  ascendency  over  it.  If  ever,  however, 
it  broke  its  bonds,  he  was  most  tremendous  in  his  wrath. 
In  his  expenses  he  was  honorable,  but  exact ;  liberal  in 
contributions  to  whatever  promised  utility,  but  frowning 
and  unyielding  on  all  visionary  projects  and  all  unworthy 
calls  on  his  charity.  His  heart  was  not  warm  in  its  affec 
tions,  but  he  exactly  calculated  every  man's  value  and  gave 
him  a  solid  esteem  proportioned  to  it.  Although  in  the 
circle  of  his  friends,  where  he  might  be  unreserved  with 
safety,  he  took  a  free  share  in  conversation,  his  colloquial 
talents  were  not  above  mediocrity,  possessing  neither  co 
piousness  of  ideas  nor  fluency  of  words.  In  public,  when 
called  on  for  a  sudden  opinion,  he  was  unready,  short  and 
embarrassed.  Yet  he  wrote  readily,  rather  diffusely,  in 
an  easy  and  correct  style.  This  he  had  acquired  by  con 
versation  with  the  world,  for  his  education  was  merely 
reading,  writing  and  common  arithmetic,  to  which  he 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  153 

added  surveying  at  a  later  day.  His  time  was  employed 
in  action  chiefly,  reading  little,  and  that  only  in  agriculture 
and  English  history.  His  correspondence  became  neces 
sarily  extensive,  and  with  journalizing  his  agricultural 
proceedings  occupied  most  of  his  leisure  hours  within 
doors.  On  the  whole,  his  character  was,  in  its  mass,  per 
fect,  in  nothing  bad,  in  few  points  indifferent ;  and  it  may 
truly  be  said,  that  never  did  nature  and  fortune  combine 
more  perfectly  to  make  a  man  great -^and  to  place  him  in 
the  same  constellation  with  whatever  worthies  have  mer 
ited  from  man  an  everlasting  remembrance.  For  J*is  was 
the  singular  destiny  and  merit  of  leading  the  armies  of  his 
country  successfully  through  an  arduous  war  for  the  es 
tablishment  of  its  independence  ;  of  conducting  its  councils 
through  the  birth  of  a  government,  new  in  its  forms  and 
principles,  until  it  had  settled  down  into  a  quiet  and  or 
derly  train  ;  and  of  scrupulously  obeying  the  laws  throug\ 
the  whole  of  his  career,  civil  and  military,  of  which  the 
history  of  the  world  furnishes  no  other  example. 

"  How  then  can  it  be  perilous  for  you  to  take  such  a 
man  on  your  shoulders  ?  I  am  satisfied  the  great  body  of 
republicans  think  of  him  as  I  do.  We  were,  indeed,  dis 
satisfied  with  him  on  his  ratification  of  the  British  treaty. 
But  this  was  short-lived.  We  knew  his  honesty,  the 
wiles  with  which  he  was  encompassed,  and  that  age  had 
already  begun  to  relax  the  firmness  of 'his  purposes  ;  and  I 
am  convinced  he  is  more  deeply  seated  in  the  love  and 
gratitude  of  the  republicans  than  in  the  pharisaical  hom 
age  of  the  federal  monarchists.  For  he  was  no  monarchist 
from  preference  of  his  judgment.  The  soundness  of  that 
gave  him  correct  views  of  the  rights  of  man,  and  his  se 
vere  justice  devoted  him  to  them.  He  has  often  declared 
to  me  that  he  considered  our  new  constitution  as  an  ex- 


154  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

periment  on  the  practicability  of  republican  government, 
and  with  what  dose  of  liberty  man  could  be  trusted  for  his 
own  good;  that  he  was  determined  the  experiment  should 
have  a  fair  trial,  and  would  lose  the  last  drop  of  his  blood 
in  support  of  it.  And  these  declarations  he  repeated  to 
me  the  oftener  and  the  more  pointedly,  because  he  knew 
my  suspicions  of  colonel  Hamilton's  views,  and  probably 
had  heard  from  him  the  same  declarations  which  I  had, 
to  wit,  '  that  the  British  constitution,  with  its  unequal  rep 
resentation,  corruption  and  other  existing  abuses,  was  the 
most  perfect  government  which  had  ever  been  established 
on  earth,  and  that  a  reformation  of  these  abuses  would 
make  it  an  impracticable  government.'  He  was  naturally 
distrustful  of  men  and  inclined  to  gloomy  apprehensions ; 
and  I  was  ever  persuaded  that  a  belief  that  we  must  at 
length  end  in  something  like  a  British  constitution,  had 
some  weight  in  his  adoption  of  the  ceremonies  of  levees, 
birth-days,  pompous  meetings  with  congress,  and  other 
forms  of  the  same  character  calculated  to  prepare  us  grad 
ually  for  a  change  which  he  believed  possible,  and  to  let  it 
come  on  with  as  little  shock  as  might  be  to  the  public 
mind. 

"  These  are  my  opinions  of  general  Washington  which 
I  would  vouch  at  the  judgment  seat  of  God,  having  been 
formed  on  an  acquaintance  of  thirty  years.  I  served  with 
him  in  the  Virginia  legislature  from  1769  to  the  revo 
lutionary  war,  and  again  a  short  time  in  congress  until 
he  left  us  to  take  command  of  the  army.  During  the 
war  and  after  it  we  corresponded  occasionally,  and  in  the 
four  years  of  my  continuance  in  the  office  of  secretary  of 
state  our  intercourse  was  daily,  confidential  and  cordial. 
After  I  retired  from  that  office,  great  and  malignant  pains 
were  taken  by  our  federal  monarchists,  and  not  entirely 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  155 

without  effect,  to  make  him  view  me  as  a  theorist,  holding  . 
French  principles  of  government  which  would  lead  infal 
libly  to  licentiousness  and  anarchy.  And  to  this  he  list 
ened  the  more  easily  from  my  known  disapprobation  of 
the  British  treaty.  J  never  saw  him  afterwards  or  these 
malignant  insinuations  should  have  been  dissipated  before 
his  just  judgment  as  mists  before  the  sun.  I  felt  on  his 
death,  with  my  countrymen,  that  '  verily  a  great  man  hath 
this  day  fallen  in  Israel.'  " 

It  is  a  little  remarkable  that  if  general  Washington  had 
determined  to  lose  the  last  drop  of  his  blood,  if  necessary 
to  a  fair  experiment  of  our  republican  system  of  govern 
ment,  that  he  should,  at  the  same  time,  feel  so  little  confi 
dence  in  it  as  to  believe  that  we  must  at  last  end  in  some 
thing  like  a  British  constitution,  and,  under  this  belief, 
that  he  was  gradually  preparing  the  minds  of  the  people 
for  its  introduction  so  as  not  to  produce  too  great  a  shock 
to  their  feelings.  The  suggestion  is  preposterous,  and  the 
measures  which  are  mentioned  as  having  been  adopted 
for  that  purpose  absurd  and  ridiculous.  Could  general 
Washing-ton  have  ever  been  so  weak  as  to  imagine  that 
public  P"'3-  faith-nights,  and  pompous  meetings  with  con- 
•  "  ave  a  tendency  to  reconcile  the  people  of  the 


levees  a 

.Jo.  6tates  to  the  establishment  of  a  monarchy?     The 

idea  is  probably  repeated  in  this  letter  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  additional  force  to  the  remarks  made  in  a  letter  to 
Mr.  Madison,  dated  August  3,  1797,  on  the  appearance  in 
this  country  of  the  Mazzei  letter,  in  which  Mr.  Jefferson 
endeavors  to  get  rid  of  the  natural  construction  put  upon 
an  expression  in  that  singular  document,  in  which  he 
charges  the  Anglo-monarchical  party  (meaning  the  fede 
ralists)  with  endeavoring  to  draw  over  us  the  substance, 
as  they  had  done  the  form,  (or,  as  he  says  in  explanation, 


156  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

the  forms,)  of  the  British  constitution.  To  gel  rid  of  the 
obvious  meaning  of  this  passage,  viz.,  that  by  the  expres 
sion  giving  us  the  form  of  tlie  British  constitution,  he 
had  reference  to  our  constitution,  he  insists  that  the  word 
should  have  been  forms,  and  that  he  referred  entirely  -to 
levees,  'birth-nights  and  pompous  inauguration  proces 
sions,  &c.  Before  this  explanation  is  admitted  as  satis 
factory,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  Mr.  Jefferson  must 
not  only  have  held  the  understanding  of  the  people  at 
large,  but  that  of  general  Washington  and  his  associates, 
in  absolute  contempt ;  otherwise  he  would  not  have  sup 
posed  that  the  former  could  have  been  imposed  upon  by 
so  shallow  a  pretence,  and  that  the  latter  must  have  been 
no  better  than  mere  dolts  to  have  flattered  themselves  that 
a  monarchy  could  ever  have  been  brought  to  pass  by  such 
ridiculous  means.  This  explanation,  however,  was  pre 
pared  for  future  history,  and  not  intended  to  be  made 
public  until  after  his  death.  And  as  it  was  done  late  in 
life,  when  age  had,  in  some  measure  at  least,  impaired  his 
faculties,  his  discernment  probably  was  not  as  acute  as  it 
had  once  been.  If  this  is  not  the  true  solution  of  the  dif 
ficulty,  if  he  was  in  possession  of  his  full  po\w. 
when  he  wrote  this  letter  and  laid  it  by  for  posthumous 
use,  he  must  have  believed  that  he  had  obtained  such  an 
ascendency  over  the  understandings  as  well  as  the  feel 
ings  and  passions  of  men  that  they  would  believe  anything 
he  should  tell  them,  however  preposterous  in  itself  or  how 
little  soever  it  might  be  supported  by  fact  or  reason. 

Nor  is  the  explanation  of  the  cause  of  general  Wash 
ington's  alienation  from  Mr.  Jefferson  in  any  respect  more 
satisfactory.  The  charge  of  being  "  a  theorist,"  and  "  hold 
ing  French  principles  of  government,"  was  not  made  for 
the  first  time  after  he  retired  from  the  office  of  secretary  of 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  157 

state.  It  was  openly  preferred  against  him,  by  the  friends 
of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  and  the  support 
ers  of  general  Washington's  administration,  from  the  be 
ginning;  and  his  works  show  that  it  was  well  founded. 
And  it  was  impossible  in  the  nature  of  things  that  general 
Washington  should  not  have  been  fully  informed  on  the 
subject ;  and  if  his  judgment  was  as  sound  and  his  jus 
tice  as  inflexible  as  is  averred  in  the  letter  to  Dr.  Jones,  it 
must  have  followed  that  he  saw,  felt,  and  of  course  ad 
mitted  its  correctness.  There  is  no  room  for  doubt,  as  will 
hereafter  be  made  manifest,  that  it  was  the  appearance  of 
the  Mazzei  letter  which  produced  the  coolness  on  the  part 
of  general  Washington.  That  great  and  virtuous  man 
was  not  formed  to  submit  patiently  to  so  unfounded  and 
so  base  an  imputation  from  one  in  whom  he  had  confided 
and  for  whom  he  had  entertained  feelings  both  of  respect 
and  friendship,  a€  that  of  being  a  monarchist  in  principle, 
and  of  course  of  secretly  aiming  to  undermine  and  destroy 
the  republican  government  and  institutions  of  his  country 
which  he  had  made  such  unexampled  efforts  and  sacrifices 
to  establish,  and  which  he  had  repeatedly,  in  the  most 
public  and  solemn  manner,  sworn  to  support.  Such  a 
charge  implied  an  accusation  of  deep  and  detestable  hypoc 
risy,  as  well  as  a  total  want  of  both  moral  and  political 
integrity  on  his  part;  and  if  there  was  any  one  species  of 
offence  which  was  more  abhorrent  to  his  nature  than  any 
other,  it  was  that  of  hypocrisy. 

In  the  4th  volume  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  Works  (page  399,) 
is  a  letter  to  Martin  Van  Buren,  dated  June  29,  1824.  It 
acknowledges  the  receipt  of  one  from  Mr.  Van  Buren,  com 
municating  to  Mr.  Jefferson  a  book  published  by  colonel 
Timothy  Pickering,  containing  strictures  upon  a  work  that 
had  been  printed  by  Mr.  John  Adams,  formerly  president 
14  " 


158  THE  CHARACTER  OF 

of  the  United  States.  In  his  book,  colonel  Pickering  had 
noticed  Mr.  Adams's  publication,  and  in  the  course  of  his 
remarks  referred  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  which  drew  from  him 
the  principal  part  of  this  letter.  The  following  is  an  ex 
tract  from  it : — 

"  The  other  allegation  is  equally  false.  In  page  34,  he 
quotes  Dr.  Stuart  as  having,  twenty  years  ago,  informed 
him  that  general  Washington,  '  when  he  became  a  private 
citizen,'  called  me  to  account  for  expressions  in  a  letter  to 
Mazzei,  requiring,  in  a  tone  of  unusual  severity,  an  expla 
nation  of  that  letter.  He  adds  of  himself,  '  in  what  man 
ner  the  latter  humbled  himself  and  appeased  the  just  re 
sentment  of  Washington  will  never  be  known,  as  some 
time  after  his  death,  the  correspondence  was  not  to  be 
found,  and  a  diary  for  an  important  period  of  his  presiden 
cy  was  also  missing.'  The  diary  being  of  transactions 
during  his  presidency,  the  letter  toMazz$i  not  known  here 
until  some  time  after  he  became  a  private  citizen,  and  the 
pretended  correspondence  of  course  after  that — I  know 
not  why  this  lost  diary  and  supposed  correspondence  are 
brought  together  here,  unless  for  insinuations  worthy  of 
the  letter  itself.  The  correspondence  could  not  be  found, 
indeed,  because  it  had  never  existed.  I  do  affirm,  that 
there  never  passed  a  word,  written  or  verbal,  directly  or 
indirectly,  between^  general  Washington  and  myself  on  the 
subject  of  that  letter.  He  would  never  have  degraded 
himself  so  far  as  to  take  to  himself  the  imputation  in  that 
letter  on  the  '  Samsons  in  combat.'  The  whole  story  is  a 
fabrication,  and  I  defy  the  framers  of  it,  and  all  mankind, 
to  produce  a  scrip  of  a  pen  between  general  Washington 
and  myself  on  the  subject,  or  any  other  evidence  more 
worthy  of  credit  than  the  suspicions,  suppositions  and  pre- 
, sumptions  of  the  two  persons  here  quoting  and  quoted  for 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  159 

it.  With  Dr.  Stuart  I  had  not  much  acquaintance.  I 
supposed  him  to  be  an  honest  man,  knew  him  to  be  a  very 
weak  one,  and  like  Mr.  Pickering,  very  prone  to  antipa 
thies,  boiling  with  party  passions,  and  under  the  dominion 
of  these  readily  welcoming  fancies  for  facts.  But,  come 
the  story  from  whomsoever  it  might,  it  is  an  unqualified 
falsehood. 

"  This  letter  to  Mazzei  has  been  a  precious  theme  of  crim 
ination  for  federal  malice.  It  was  a  long  letter  of  business, 
in  which  was  inserted  a  single  paragraph  only  of  political 
information  as  to  the  state  of  our  country.  In  this  infor 
mation  there  was  not  one  word  which  would  not  then  have 
been,  or  would  not  now  be  approved  by  every  republican 
in  the  United  States,  looking  back  to  those  times,  as  you 
will  see  by  a  faithful  copy  now  enclosed  of  the  whole  of 
what  that  letter  said  on  the  subject  of  the  United  States 
or  of  its  government.  This  paragraph,  extracted  and  trans 
lated,  got  into  a  Paris  paper  at  a  time  when  the  persons 
in  power  there  were  laboring  under  very  general  disfavor, 
and  their  friends  were  eager  to  catch  even  at  straws  to 
buoy  them  up.  To  them,  therefore,  I  have  always  imputed 
the  interpolation  of  an  entire  paragraph  additional  to  mine, 
which  makes  me  charge  my  own  country  with  ingratitude 
arid  injustice  to  France.^  There  was  not  a  word  in  my 

*  Mr.  Jefferson  roundly  asserts  that  there  was  not  a  word  in  his 
letter  to  Mazzei  respecting  France,  and  that  the '  passage  in  it,  as 
first  published  in  this  country,  which  speaks  of  our  ingratitude  to 
France,  was  an  interpolation.  On  the  truth  of  this  declaration,  the 
public  will  form  their  own  conclusions.  That  such  a  passage 
should  have  been  fabricated  is,  to  say  the  least,  extraordinary, 
and  in  the  author's  view,  extremely  improbable  ;  especially,  when 
the  whole  drift  of  his  feelings  and  sentiments  with  respect  to  that 
nation  is  taken  into  consideration,  and  when  we  find  him  on  other 
occasions  expressing  a  similar  sentiment  respecting  our  indebted- 


160  THE   CHARACTER  OF 

letter  respecting  France  or  any  of  the  proceedings  or  rela 
tions  between  this  country  and  that.  Yet  this  interpolated 
paragraph  has  been  the  burden  of  federal  calumny,  has 
been  constantly  quoted  by  them,  made  the  subject  of  un 
ceasing  and  virulent  abuse,  and  is  still  quoted,  as  you  see 
by  Mr.  Pickering,  (page  33,)  as  if  it  were  genuine  and 
really  written  by  me.  And  even  judge  Marshall  makes 
history  descend  from  its  dignity,  and  the  ermine  from  its 
sanctity,  to  exaggerate,  to  record  and  to  sanction  this  for 
gery.  In  the  very  last  note  of  his  book,  he  says,  '  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Jefferson  to  Mr.  Mazzei,  an  Italian,  was  publish 
ed  in  Florence,  and  republished  in  the  Moniteur,  with  very 
severe  strictures  on  the  conduct  of  the  United  States.* 
And  instead  of  the  letter  itself,  he  copies  what  he  says  are 
the  remarks  of  the  editor,  which  are  an  exaggerated  com 
mentary  on  the  fabricated  paragraph  itself,  and  silently 
leaves  to  his  reader  to  make  the  ready  inference  that  these 
were  the  sentiments  of  the  letter.  Proof  is  the  duty  of 
the  affirmative  side.  A  negative  cannot  be  possibly  prov 
ed.  But,  in  defect  of  impossible  proof  of  what  was  not  in 
the  original  letter,  I  have  a  press  copy  still  in  my  posses 
sion.  It  has  been  shown  lo  several,  and  is  open  to  any 
one  who  wishes  to  see  it.  I  have  presumed  only  that  the 
interpolation  was  done  in  Paris.  But  I  never  saw  the  let 
ter  in  either  its  Italian  or  French  dress,  and  it  may  have 
been  done  here,  with  the  commentary  handed  down  to 

ness  to  France.  In  a  letter  to  Arthur  Campbell,  dated  September 
1,  1797,  not  quite  a  month  after  that  to  Mr.  Madison  requesting 
his  advice  how  to  act  concerning  this  very  letter  to  Mazzei,  he 
says,  "  It  is  true  that  a  party  has  risen  up  among  us,  endeavoring 
to  separate  us  from  all  friendly  connection  with  France,  to  unite 
our  destinies  with  those  of  Great  Britain,  and  to  assimilate  our 
government  to  theirs."  "  We  owe  gratitude  to  France,  justice  to 
England,  good  will  to  all,  and  subservience  to  none." 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  161 

posterity  by  the  judge.  The  genuine  paragraph,  re-trans 
lated  through  Italian  and  French  into  English,  as  it  ap 
peared  here  in  a  federal  paper,  besides  the  mutilated  hue 
which  these  translations  and  re-translations  of  it  produced 
generally,  gave  a  mistranslation  of  a  single  word,  whicfei 
entirely  perverted  its  meaning  and  made  it  a  pliant  and 
fertile  text  of  misrepresentation  of  my  political  principles. 
The  original,  speaking  of  an  Anglican,  monarchical  and 
aristocratical  party  which  had  sprung  up  since  he  left  us, 
states  their  object  to  be  '  to  draw  over  us  the  substance,  as 
they  had  already  done  the  forms  of  the  British  govern 
ment.'  Now  the  forms  here  meant  were  the  levees,  birth 
days,  the  pompous  cavalcade  to  the  state  house  on  the 
meeting  of  congress,  the  formal  speech  from  the  throne, 
the  procession  of  congress  in  a  body  to  re-echo  the  speech 
in  an  answer,  &c.  &c.  But  the  translator  here,  by  sub 
stituting  form  in  the  singular  number  for  forms  in  the 
plural,  made  it  mean  the  frame  or  organization  of  our  gov 
ernment,  or  its  form  of  legislative,  executive  and  judiciary 
authorities,  co-ordinate  and  independent :  to  which  form 
it  was  inferred  that  I  was  to  be  an  enemy.  In  this  sense 
they  always  quoted  it,  and  in  this  sense  Mr.  Pickering 
still  quotes  it,  (pages  34,  35,  38,)  and  countenances  the  in 
ference.  Now  general  Washington  perfectly  understood 
what  I  meant  by  these  forms,  as  they  were  frequent  sub 
jects  of  conversation  between  us.  When,  on  my  return 
from  Europe,  I  joined  the  government  in  March,  1790,  at 
New  York,  I  was  much  astonished,  indeed,  at  the  mimicry 
I  found  established  of  royal  forms  and  ceremonies,  and 
more  alarmed  at  the  unexpected  phenomenon,  by  the  mo 
narchical  sentiments  I  heard  expressed  and  openly  main 
tained  in  every  company,  and  among  others  by  the  high 
members  of  the  government,  executive  and  judiciary  (gea- 
14* 


162  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

eral  Washington  alone  excepted,)  and  by  a  great  part  of 
the  legislature,  save  only  some  members  who  had  been 
of  the  old  congress  and  a  very  few  of  recent  introduction. 
I  took  occasion,  at  various  times,  of  expressing  to  general 
Washington  my  disappointment  at  the  symptoms  of  a 
change  of  principle,  and  that  I  thought  them  encouraged 
by  the  forms  and  ceremonies  which  I  found  prevailing, 
not  at  all  in  character  with  the  simplicity  of  republican 
government,  and  looking  as  if  wishfully  to  those  of  Eu 
ropean  courts.  His  general  explanations  to  me  were,  that 
when  he  arrived  at  New  York  to  enter  on  the  executive 
administration  of  the  new  government,  he  observed  to 
those  who  were  to  assist  him,  that  placed  as  he  was  in  an 
office  entirely  new  to  him,  unacquainted  with  the  forms 
and  ceremonies  of  other  governments,  still  less  apprized  of 
those  which  might  be  properly  established  here,  and  him 
self  perfectly  indifferent  to  all  forms,  he  wished  them  to 
consider  and  prescribe  what  they  should  be  ;  and  the  task 
was  assigned  particularly  to  general  Knox,  a  man  of 
parade,  and  to  colonel  Humphreys,  who  had  resided 
some  time  at  a  foreign  court.  They,  he  said,  were 
the  authors  of  the  present  regulations,  and  that  others 
were  proposed  so  highly  strained  that  he  absolutely  re 
jected  them.  Attentive  to  the  difference  of  opinion  pre 
vailing  on  this  subject,  when  the  term  of  his  second  elec 
tion  arrived,  he  called  the  heads  of  departments  together, 
observed  to  them  the  situation  in  which  he  had  been  at 
the  commencement  of  the  government,  the  advice  he  had 
taken,  and  the  course  he  had  observed  in  compliance  with 
it ;  that  a  proper  occasion  had  now  arrived  of  revising  that 
course,  of  correcting  in  it  any  particulars  not  approved  in 
experience ;  and  he  desired  us  to  consult  together,  agree 
on  any  changes  we  should  think  for  the  better,  and  that  he 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  163 

should  willingly  conform  to  what  we  should  advise.  We 
met  at  my  office.  Hamilton  and  myself  agreed  at  once 
that  there  was  too  much  ceremony  for  the  character  of  our 
government,  and,  particularly,  that  the  parade  of  the  in 
stallation  at  New  York  ought  not  to  be  copied  on  the  pre 
sent  occasion,  that  the  president  should  desire  the  chief 
justice  to  attend  him  at  his  chambers,  that  he  should  ad 
minister  the  oath  of  office  to  him  in  the  presence  of  the 
higher  officers  of  the  government,  and  that  the  certificate 
of  the  fact  should  be  delivered  to  the  secretary  of  state  to 
be  recorded.  Randolph  and  Knox  differed  from  us,  the 
latter  vehemently  :  they  thought  it  not  advisable  to  change 
any  of  the  established  forms,  and  we  authorized  Randolph 
to  report  our  opinions  to  the  president.  As  these  opinions 
were  divided,  and  no  positive  advice  given  as  to  any 
change,  no  change  was  made.  Thus  the  forms  which  I 
had  censured  in  my  letter  to  Mazzei,  were  perfectly  under 
stood  by  general  Washington,  and  were  those  which  he 
himself  but  barely  tolerated.  He  had  furnished  me  a 
proper  occasion  for  proposing  their  reformation,  and  my 
opinion  not  prevailing,  he  knew  I  could  not  have  meant 
any  part  of  the  censure  for  him. 

"  Mr.  Pickering  quotes,  too,  (page  34)  the  expression  in 
the  letter  of '  the  men  who  were  Samsons  in  the  field  and 
Solomons  in  the  council,  but  who  had  had  their  heads 
shorn  by  the  harlot  England ; '  or,  as  expressed  in  their 
re-translation,  *  the  men  who  were  Solomons  in  council 
and  Samsons  in  combat,  but  whose  hair  had  been  cut  off 
by  the  whore  England.'  Now  this  expression  also  was 
perfectly  understood  by  general  Washington.  He  knew 
that  I  meant  it  for  the  Cincinnati  generally,  and  that,  from 
what  had  passed  between  us  at  the  commencement  of  that 
institution,  I  could  not  mean  to  include  him.  When  the 


164  THE    CHARACTER    OP 

first  meeting  was  called  for  its  establishment,  I  was  a 
member  of  the  congress  then  sitting  at  Annapolis.  Gen 
eral  Washington  wrote  to  me,  asking  my  opinion  on  that 
proposition,  and  the  course,  if  any,  which  I  thought  con 
gress  would  observe  respecting  it.  I  wrote  him  frankly 
nry  own  disapprobation  of  it ;  that  I  found  the  members  of 
congress  generally  in  the  same  sentiment;  that  I  thought 
they  would  take  no  express  notice  of  it,  but  that  in  all  ap 
pointments  of  truth,  honor,  or  profit,  they  would  silently 
pass  by  all  candidates  of  that  order  and  give  a  uniform 
preference  to  others.  On  his  way  to  the  first  meeting  in 
Philadelphia,  which  I  think  was  in  the  spring  of  1784,  he 
called  on  me  at  Annapolis.  It  was  a  little  after  candle 
light,  and  he  sat  with  me  until  after  midnight,  conversing, 
almost  exclusively,  on  that  subject.  While  he  was  feel 
ingly  indulgent  to  the  motives  which  might  induce  the  of 
ficers  to  promote  it,  he  concurred  with  me  entirely  in  con 
demning  it ;  and  when  I  expressed  an  idea  that,  if  the 
hereditary  quality  were  suppressed,  the  institution  might 
perhaps  be  indulged  during  the  lives  of  the  officers  now 
living  and  who  had  actually  served,  '  No,'  he  said,  *  not  a 
fibre  of  it  ought  to  be  left,  to  be  an  eye-sore  to  the  public, 
a  ground  of  dissatisfaction,  and  a  line  of  separation  be 
tween  them  and  their  country :'  and  he  left  me  with  a  de 
termination  to  use  all  his  influence  for  its  entire  suppres 
sion.  On  his  return  from  the  meeting,  he  called  on  me 
again,  and  related  to  me  the  course  the  thing  had  taken. 
He  said  that  from  the  beginning  he  had  used  every  endeavor 
to  prevail  on  the  officers  to  renounce  the  project  altogether, 
urging  the  many  considerations  which  would  render  it 
odious  to  their  fellow-citizens  and  disreputable  and  injuri 
ous  to  themselves ;  that  he  had  at  length  prevailed  on 
most  of  the  old  officers  to  reject  it,  although  with  great 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  165 

and  warm  opposition  from  others,  and  especially  the 
younger  ones,  among  whom  he  named  colonel  William  S. 
Smith  as  particularly  intemperate.  But  that  in  this  state 
of  things,  when  he  thought  the  question  safe  and  the 
meeting  drawing  to  a  close,  major  L'Enfant  arrived  from 
France  with  a  bundle  of  eagles,  for  which  he  had  been 
sent  there,  with  letters  from  the  French  officers  who  had 
served  in  America,  praying  for  admission  into  the  order, 
and  a  solemn  act  of  their  king  permitting  them  to  wear  its 
ensign.  This,  he  said,  changed  the  face  of  matters  at 
once,  produced  an  entire  revolution  of  sentiment  and  turn 
ed  the  torrent  so  strongly  in  an  opposite  direction  that  it 
could  be  no  longer  withstood :  all  he  could  then  obtain 
was  a  suppression  of  the  hereditary  quality.  He  added, 
that  it  was  the  French  applications,  and  respect  for  the  ap 
probation  of  the  king,  which  saved  the  establishment  in  its 
modified  and  temporary  form.  Disapproving  thus  of  the 
institution  as  much  as  I  did,  and  conscious  that  I  knew 
him  to  do  so,  he  could  never  suppose  that  I  meant  to  in 
clude  him  among  the  Samsons  in  the  field,  whose  object 
was  to  draw  over  us  the  form,  as  they  made  the  letter  say, 
of  the  British  government,  and  especially  its  aristocratic 
member,  an  hereditary  house  of  lords.  Add  to  this,  that 
the  letter  saying,  '  two  out  of  the  three  branches  of  leg 
islature  were  against  us,'  was  an  obvious  exception  of 
him ;  it  being  well  known  that  the  majorities  in  the  two 
branches  of  senate  and  representatives  were  the  very  in 
struments  which  carried,  in  opposition  to  the  old  and  real 
republicans,  the  measures  which  were  the  subjects  of  con 
demnation  in  this  letter.  General  Washington,  then,  un 
derstanding  perfectly  what  and  whom  I  meant  to  desig 
nate,  in  both  phrases,  and  that  they  could  not  have  any 
application  or  view  to  himself,  could  find  in  neither  any 


166  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

cause  of  offence  to  himself,  and  therefore  neither  needed 
nor  ever  asked  any  explanation  of  them  from  me.  Had 
it  even  been  otherwise,  they  must  know  very  little  of  gen 
eral  Washington,  who  should  believe  to  be  within  the  laws 
of  his  character  what  Dr.  Stuart  is  said  to  have  imputed 
to  him.  Be  this,  however,  as  it  may,  the  story  is  infa 
mously  false  in  every  article  of  it.  My  last  parting  with 
general  Washington  was  at  the  inauguration  of  Mr. 
Adams,  in  March,  1797,  and  was  warmly  affectionate ; 
and  I  never  had  any  reason  to  believe  any  change  on  his 
part,  as  there  certainly  was  none  on  mine.  But  one  ses 
sion  of  congress  intervened  between  that  and  his  death,  the 
year  following,  in  my  passage  to  and  from  which,  as  it 
happened  to  be  not  convenient  to  call  upon  him,  I  never 
had  another  opportunity ;  and  as  to  the  cessation  of  cor 
respondence  observed  during  that  short  interval,  no  partic 
ular  circumstance  occurred  for  epistolary  communication, 
and  both  of  us  were  too  much  oppressed  with  letter- writing 
to  trouble  either  the  other  with  a  letter  about  nothing. 

"  The  truth  is,  that  the  federalists,  pretending  to  be  the 
exclusive  friends  of  general  Washington,  have  ever  done 
what  they  could  to  sink  his  character  by  hanging  theirs  on 
it,  and  by  representing  as  the  enemy  of  republicans  him 
who,  of  all  men,  is  best  entitled  to  the  appellation  of  the 
father  of  that  republic  which  they  were  endeavoring  to 
subvert,  and  the  republicans  to  maintain.  They  cannot 
deny,  because  the  elections  proclaimed  the  truth,  that  the 
great  body  of  the  nation  approved  the  republican  measures. 
General  Washington  was  himself  sincerely  a  friend  to  the 
republican  principles  of  our  constitution.  His  faith,  per 
haps,  in  its  duration  might  not  have  been  as  confident  as 
mine  ;  but  he  repeatedly  declared  to  me,  that  he  was  de 
termined  it  should  have  a  fair  chance  for  success,  and  that 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  167 

he  would  lose  the  last  drop  of  his  blood  in  its  support 
against  any  attempt  which  might  be  made  to  change  it 
from  its  republican  form.  He  made  these  declarations 
the  oftener,  because  he  knew  my  suspicions  that  Hamilton 
had  other  views,  and  he  wished  to  quiet  my  jealousies  on 
this  subject.  For  Hamilton  frankly  avowed,  that  he  con 
sidered  the  British  constitution,  with  all  the  corruptions  of 
its  administration,  as  the  most  perfect  model  of  govern 
ment  which  had  ever  been  devised  by  the  wit  of  man — 
professing,  however,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  spirit  of 
this  country  was  so  fundamentally  republican,  that  it  would 
be  visionary  to  think  of  introducing  monarchy  here,  and 
that,  therefore,  it  was  the  duty  of  its  administrators  to  con 
duct  it  on  the  principles  their  constituents  had  elected. 

"  General  Washington,  after  the  retirement  of  his  first 
cabinet  and  the  composition  of  his  second,  entirely  federal, 
and  at  the  head  of  which  was  Mr.  Pickering  himself,  had 
no  opportunity  of  hearing  both  sides  of  any  question.  His 
measures,  consequently,  took  more  of  the  hue  of  the  party 
in  whose  hands  he  was.  These  measures  were  certainly 
not  approved  by  the  republicans ;  yet  were  they  not  im 
puted  to  him,  but  to  the  counselors  around  him ;  and  his 
prudence  so  far  restrained  their  impassioned  course  and 
bias,  that  no  act  of  strong  mark,  during  the  remainder  of 
his  administration,  excited  much  dissatisfaction.  He  lived 
too  short  a  time  after,  and  too  much  withdrawn  from  infor 
mation,  to  correct  the  views  into  which  he  had  been  delud 
ed  ;  and  the  continued  assiduities  of  the  party  drew  him 
into  the  vortex  of  their  intemperate  career,  separated  him 
still  farther  from  his  real  friends,  and  excited  him  to  ac 
tions  and  expressions  of  dissatisfaction  which  grieved 
them,  but  could  not  loosen  their  affections  from  him. 
They  would  not  suffer  the  temporary  aberration  to  weigh 


168  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

against  the  immeasurable  merits  of  his  life ;  and  although 
they  tumbled  his  seducers  from  their  places,  they  preserv 
ed  his  memory  embalmed  in  their  hearts  with  undimin- 
ished  love  and  devotion ;  and  there  it  will  forever  remain 
embalmed,  in  entire  oblivion  of  every  temporary  thing 
which  might  cloud  the  glories  of  his  splendid  life.  It  is 
vain,  then,  for  Mr.  Pickering  and  his  friends  to  endeavor 
to  falsify  his  character,  by  representing  him  as  an  enemy 
to  republicans  and  republican  principles,  and  as  exclusive 
ly  the  friend  of  those  who  were  so ;  and  had  he  lived 
longer,  he  would  have  returned  to  his  ancient  and  unbias 
ed  opinions,  would  have  replaced  his  confidence  in  those 
whom  the  people  approved  and  supported,  and  would  have 
seen  that  they  were  only  restoring  and  acting  on  the  prin 
ciples  of  his  own  first  administration. 

"  I  find  that  I  have  written  you  a  very  long  letter,  or 
rather  a  history.  The  civility  of  having  sent  me  a  copy 
of  Mr.  Pickering's  diatribe  would  scarcely  justify  its  ad 
dress  to  you.  I  do  not  publish  these  things,  because  my 
rule  of  life  has  been  never  to  harass  the  public  with  send- 
ings  and  provings  of  personal  slanders ;  and  least  of  all 
would  I  descend  into  the  arena  of  slander  with  such  a 
champion  as  Mr.  Pickering.  I  have  ever  trusted  to  the 
justice  and  consideration  of  my  fellow  citizens,  and  have 
no  reason  to  repent  it  or  to  change  my  course.  At  this 
time  of  life,  too,  tranquility  is  the  summum  bonum.  But 
though  I  decline  all  newspaper  controversy,  yet  when 
falsehoods  have  been  advanced,  within  the  knowledge  of 
no  one  so  much  as  myself,  I  have  sometimes  deposited  a 
contradiction  in  the  hands  of  a  friend  which,  if  worth 
preservation,  may,  when  I  am  no  more  nor  those  whom  I 
might  offend,  throw  light  on  history,  and  recall  that  into 
the  path  of  truth." 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  169 

This  extraordinary  document  having  been  obviously 
prepared  to  "  throw  light  on  history  "  when  Mr.  Jefferson 
was  no  more,  it  has  been  thought,  expedient  to  give  it  at 
length,  in  order  that  his  views  upon  several  important 
topics  contained  in  it  might  be  clearly  and  fully  under 
stood. 

The  first  subject  that  is  worthy  of  notice  is  the  account 
given  by  Dr.  Stuart  to  colonel  Pickering,  that  a  portion  of 
a  correspondence  between  general  Washington  and  Mr. 
Jefferson,  and  of  general  Washington's  diary  relative  to 
the  Mazzei  letter,  was  not,  after  general  Washington's 
death,  to  be  found.  Mr.  Jefferson  pronounces  the  whole 
story  to  be  a  fabrication ;  and  adds,  "  I  defy  the  framers 
of  it,  and  all  mankind,  to  produce  a  scrip  of  a  pen  between 
general  Washington  and  myself  on  the  subject."  Wheth 
er  this  denial  is  intended  to  apply  to  the  story  of  the  loss 
of  the  diary  as  well  as  the  correspondence,  is  not  perfectly 
clear  from  the  language  made  use  of.  The  challenge  to 
produce  it  is  confined  to  the  latter;  and  if  that  had  been 
surreptitiously  obtained  from  the  Washington  papers  and 
destroyed,  there  was  no  risk  in  making  it.  And  situated 
as  he  was  at  the  time  of  writing  this  article  he  had  the 
strongest  personal  inducements,  especially  as  there  was 
no  person  living  to  contradict  him,  to  make  the  case  as  fa 
vorable  to  his  own  interests  as  was  in  his  power;  and, 
therefore,  if  he  was  less  scrupulous  about  the  means  used 
for  the  purpose,  it  cannot  be  a  matter  of  surprise  to  any 
person  acquainted  with  his  character  and  the  circumstan 
ces  in  which  he  was  placed. 

The  manner  in  which  he  attempts  to  discredit  Dr.  Stu 
art  is  very  characteristic.  He  says  that  he  had  but  little 
acquaintance  with  him ;  that  he  supposed  him  to  be  an 
honest  man,  but  knew  him  to  be  a  very  weak  one,  and, 
15 


170  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

like  Mr.  Pickering1,  very  prone  to  antipathies,  boiling  with 
party  passions  and  under  their  dominion,  readily  welcom 
ing  fancies  for  facts.  The  loss  of  part  of  the  diary  was 
asserted  many  years  before  the  date  of  this  letter  by  gen 
eral  Washington's  family  connections,  and  the  fact  has 
always  been  understood  and  believed  upon  the  most  un 
questionable  testimony.  If  general  Washington  consid 
ered  Mr.  Jefferson's  calumnies  of  sufficient  importance  to 
warrant  him  in  calling  for  an  explanation  of  the  Mazzei 
letter,  nothing  is  more  probable  than  that  he  wrote  to  him 
for  that  purpose.  Of  the  probability  of  his  having  done 
so,  every  man,  after  examining  the  circumstances,  will 
form  his  own  opinion.  It  will  be  well  to  bear  in  mind, 
however,  that  Mr.  Jefferson's  affirming  or  denying  a  thing 
to  exist  is  not  always  conclusive  evidence  that  such  is  the 
case,  as  it  is  believed  will  satisfactorily  appear  when  this 
work  is  finished.  It  is,  however,  not  a  little  remarkable 
that  he  should  attempt  to  discredit  Dr.  Stuart  as  a  witness 
on  the  ground  that  he  was  under  the  influence  of  party 
passions  and  was  prone  to  welcome  fancies  for  facts.  Mr. 
Jefferson  may  be  justly  styled,  in  the  language  of  ma 
sonry,  the  grand  master  of  parties  and  party  feelings  in 
this  country.  As  soon  as  he  returned  from  France  and 
took  his  seat  in  the  national  cabinet,  he  commenced  the 
formation  and  establishment  of  the  party  which,  under  his 
auspices  and  by  the  force  of  his  influence  and  exertions, 
became  the  prevailing  power  in  the  Union,  and  has  con 
tinued,  under  one  leader  and  another,  but  all  invoking  his 
.name  and  principles,  down  to  the  present  time.  It  has 
already  been  shown  from  under  his  own  hand  that,  when 
he  entered  upon  the  duties  of  chief  magistrate  of  the  Uni 
ted  States,  his  earliest  complaint  was,  that  "  the  sect"  of 
.federalists  alone  held  offices  under  the  government  and 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  171 

that  he  should  make  removals  until  he  had  introduced  re 
publicans  enough  to  restore  an  equilibrium.  The  party 
that  he  thus  formed  and  brought  into  power  became  as 
vindictive  towards  their  opponents  as  they  were  greedy 
for  office;  and  Dr.  Stuart's  party-passions  must  have  been 
heated  to  a  seven-fold  degree,  if  they  exceeded  in  intensity 
those  of  the  demagogues  of  whom  Mr.  Jefferson  was  the 
leader.  And  as  for  substituting  fancies  for  facts,  no  man 
who  considered  himself,  or  was  viewed  by  his  followers 
as  having  a  claim  to  the  title  of  great,  was  ever  more  re 
markable  for  the  adoption  of  the  same  practice  than  him 
self. 

Having  disposed  of  Dr.  Stuart,  Mr.  Jefferson  proceeds, 
in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Van  Buren,  to  a  long  train  of  remarks 
upon  the  use  which  the  federalists  have  made  of  the  letter 
to  Mazzei.  He  says  it  had  been  a  precious  theme  of  fed 
eral  malice.  Having  made  it  the  subject  of  a  critical 
examination  in  another  work  it  is  not  necessary  for  the 
author  to  go  over  the  same  ground  again.  Mr.  Jef 
ferson  says  that,  in  translating  it,  a  single  word  having 
been  improperly  rendered  in  the  singular  number  instead 
of  the  plural,  that  is,  the  word  form  instead  of  forms,  it 
entirely  perverted  its  meaning  and  made  it  the  fertile  text 
of  misrepresentation  of  his  political  principles.  And  he 
labors  very  earnestly  to  show  that,  instead  of  alluding  to 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States  as  containing  the 
form  of  a  monarchical  government  which  the  monarchical 
party  were  endeavoring  to  draw  over  us,  he  had  reference 
only  to  the  president's  levees,  birth-days,  and  other  cere 
monies  which  were  practiced  at  the  seat  of  government. 
It  is  difficult  to  imagine  anything  more  consummately 
ridiculous  and  absurd  than  for  a  man  for  whom  his  par- 
tizans  have  united  to  affix  the  title  not  merely  of  great  but 


172  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

of  illustrious,  gravely,  and  in  a  document  which  he  had 
deliberately  prepared  for  posthumous  publication  and  for 
the  express  purpose  of  throwing  light  on  history,  gravely 
to  tell  future  generations  that  he  was  extremely  fearful 
lest  George  Washington  and  his  cabinet  should  change 
a  republican  government  which  he  and  his  federal  friends 
had  just  formed,  organized  and  put  in  operation,  into  a 
monarchy,  the  very  kind  of  government  they  had  just 
succeeded  in  throwing  off  from  their  country.  No  man 
of  sense  and  of  common  honesty  will  believe  any  such 
thing.  But  they  will  believe  that  in  making  use  of  this 
language  in  a  private  letter  to  a  foreigner,  at  the  distance 
of  four  thousand  miles,  he  had  reference  to  the  constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States,  which  is  strictly  a  form  of  gov 
ernment;  whilst  levees  and  birth-nights,  &c.,  are  in  no 
sense  forms  of  government,  and  have  no  relation  to  forms 
of  government,  nor  could  they,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
have  had  any  tendency  to  change  our  government  into  a 
monarchy,  however  frequent,  fashionable  or  fascinating 
they  might  have  been.  The  highest  grade  of  office  they 
were  calculated  to  produce  was  a  master  of  ceremonies, 
who,  of  all  the  varieties  of  form  which  ambition  may 
be  supposed  to  assume  is  the  least  likely  to  terminate  in 
a  monarch  or  a  sovereign  of  any  description. 

And,  as  if  Mr.  Jefferson  was  bent  upon  making  himself 
ridiculous,  after  taking  great  pains  to  display  the  fears 
which  he  derived  from  this  source  to  the  liberties  of  the 
country,  and  after  having,  in  the  earlier  parts  of  his  cor 
respondence  and  the  later  entries  in  his  "A?ia"  uniformly 
spoken  of  Alexander  Hamilton  as  the  most  decided  mon 
archist,  in  sentiment  at  least,  that  there  was  in  the  Union, 
when  giving  an  account  of  a  formal  meeting  of  the  cabinet 
at  the  commencement  of  general  Washington's  second  pe- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  173 

riod  in  office  in  order  to  consult  upon  the  important  ques 
tion  whether  it  was  expedient  to  alter  or  abrogate  any  of 
these  anti-republican  practices  of  the  first  administration, 
he  says,  "  Hamilton  and  myself  agreed  at  o?ice  that  there 
was  too  much  ceremony  for  the  character  of  our  govern 
ment,  and  proposed  alterations,  while  Randolph  and  Knox 
differed  from  them;  and  the  consequence  was,  that  no 
reformation  of  this  threatening  evil  was  effected.  Here, 
then,  it  appears  that  Randolph,  a  Virginia  democrat  and  a 
Jeffersonian  republican,  was  in  favor  of  continuing  these 
dangerous  monarchical  ceremonies  at  the  imminent  haz 
ard  not  only  of  our  liberties  but  of  the  very  nature  of  our 
government,  whilst  Alexander  Hamilton  —  the  man  who, 
in  Mr.  Jefferson's  opinion,  was  the  most  devoted  monarchist 
in  the  nation,  and  a  monarchist,  too,  on  the  principle  of  cor 
ruption —  was  decidedly  in  favor  of  abrogating  the  very 
ceremonies  which,  according  to  the  notions  of  Mr.  Jeffer 
son,  were  calculated  to  introduce  the  kind  of  government 
to  which  he  gave  the  preference  over  all  others.  The 
person  who  can  swallow  all  this  nonsense  need  be  under 
no  apprehensions  of  ever  being  suffocated  by  absurdities 
of  any  description. 

Mr.  Jefferson  then  enters  upon  a  long  disquisition  upon 
the  phrase  in  the  letter,  "Samsons  in  the  field  and  Solo 
mons  in  council,  whose  heads  had  been  shorn  by  the  harlot 
England"  He  says,  "  this  expression  was  perfectly  un 
derstood  by  general  Washington."  If  so  it  must  have 
been  by  the  exercise  of  his  own  ingenuity  and  discern 
ment,  for  it  has  been  seen  by  his  declaration  in  this  letter 
that  nothing  had  ever  passed  between  him  and  general 
Washington  on  the  subject  of  this  letter.  He  acknowl 
edges  that  he  never  saw  general  Washington  after  its 
publication  in  this  country,  and  he  avers  that  he  never. 
15* 


174  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

wrote  anything  to  him  concerning  it.  He  says  that  gene 
ral  Washington  knew  he  meant  it  for  the  Cincinnati  gen 
erally,  and  that,  from  what  passed  between  them  at  the 
commencement  of  that  institution,  he  could  not  mean  to 
include  him.  That  Mr.  Jefferson  was  opposed  to  the 
Cincinnati,  and  was,  or  pretended  to  be,  apprehensive  that 
an  association  purely  benevolent  and  charitable  in  its  con 
stitution  and  objects,  and  composed  of  men  who  had 
fought,  suffered  and  bled  in  achieving  their  country's  free 
dom  and  independence,  would  prove  mischievous  and  per 
haps  be  the  means  of  changing  the  republic  into  a  monarchy, 
there  is  no  room  to  doubt.  That  he  had  in  reality  any 
such  fears  is  far  more  questionable.  And  when  he  found 
that,  after  all  his  efforts  to  instill  such  suspicions  and  jeal 
ousies  as  he  affected  to  entertain  into  the  pure  and  vir 
tuous  mind  of  Washington,  and  notwithstanding  all  his 
endeavors  to  alarm  him  on  that  subject,  Washington  ac 
cepted,  and  held  for  years,  the  office  of  president  general 
over  the  society,  it  is  little  short  of  ludicrous  to  find  Mr. 
Jefferson,  at  so  late  a  period,  going  back  to  the  old  ground, 
and  ascribing  the  phraseology  above  referred  to  in  the 
Mazzei  letter  to  his  apprehensions  respecting  the  objects 
of  that  institution.  At  the  time  when  the  Mazzei  letter 
was  written,  the  society  had  existed  for  more  than  twelve 
years.  The  manner  in  which  their  evil  designs  were  to 
be  accomplished  is  not  specified.  An  Irish  judge  in  South 
Carolina  wrote  a  pamphlet  to  warn  the  country  against 
them,  but  like  most  modern  prophecies  the  fulfillment 
never  occurred.  Mr.  Jefferson  was,  as  usual,  more  cau 
tious  and  more  cunning  in  his  prognostications  of  evil. 
He  dealt  in  general,  undefined  apprehensions,  throwing 
out  to  the  populace  and  their  leaders  cant  phrases,  like 
that  of  Samsons  in  the  field  and  Solomons  in  council,  the 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  175 

probable  effect  of  which  he  understood  as  well  as  any 
man  who  ever  lived.  But  as  it  is  now  more  than  fifty 
years  since  the  society  of  the  Cincinnati  was  formed,  and 
a  very  large  proportion  of  the  members  have  passed  off 
the  stage  of  life,  and  none  of  his  evil  forebodings  ever  came 
to  pass,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  conclude  that  his  fears 
were  affected  and  not  real,  and  that  his  object  in  giving 
them  out  was,  as  it  always  was  through  life,  in  a  prime 
degree  selfish  and  sinister.  There  is  very  little  more 
probability  that  general  Washington,  when  he  saw  the 
letter  to  Mazzei,  supposed  the  expression  "  Samsons  in 
the  field  and  Solomons  in  council,"  alluded  to  the  society 
of  the  Cincinnati  than  that  he  imagined  that  it  had  ref 
erence  to  the  knights  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem.  A  small 
number  of  the  revolutionary  officers  did,  indeed,  go  into 
public  life.  Among  these  was  general  Knox,  who  was 
the  first  secretary  of  war  under  general  Washington's  ad 
ministration,  appointed  to  that  office  immediately  after  the 
organization  of  the  government.  He  was  the  man  from 
whom  the  plan  of  establishing  the  society  is  said  to  have 
originally  proceeded.  After  holding  the  office  of  secretary 
of  war  nearly  five  years,  he  resigned  it  in  December,  1794. 
It  is  very  certain  that  during  that  period  general  Wash 
ington,  notwithstanding  all  Mr.  Jefferson's  insinuations 
and  suggestions,  had  formed  no  suspicions  of  his  alle 
giance  to  his  country,  or  of  his  designs  or  even  wishes  to 
introduce  a  monarchy  into  the  United  States.  Upon  ac 
cepting  his  resignation  the  president  expressed  himself  in 
a  letter  to  him  as  follows:  —  "  I  cannot  suffer  you,  how 
ever,  to  close  your  public  service,  without  uniting  to  the 
satisfaction  which  must  arise  in  your  own  mind  from  con 
scious  rectitude,  assurances  of  my  most  perfect  persuasion 
that  you  have  deserved  well  of  your  country. 


176 


THE    CHARACTER    OF 


"  My  personal  knowledge  of  your  exertions,  while  it 
authorizes  me  to  hold  this  language,  justifies  the  sincere 
friendship  which  I  have  borne  you  and  which  will  accom 
pany  you  in  every  situation  of  life."  Mr.  Jefferson,  with 
an  intimate  and  thorough  acquaintance  with  general 
Washington  for  thirty  years,  must  have  ascertained  that 
he  would  not  have  expressed  himself  in  respectful  and 
even  affectionate  language  to  any  man  of  whose  merit  he 
entertained  a  single  doubt,  and  much  more  to  any  man 
who  had  been  plotting  the  destruction  of  his  country's 
freedom.  The  inference  is  therefore  clear  and  irresistible 
that  he  had  no  suspicions  of  general  Knox,  and  there  is 
as  little  reason  to  believe  that  he  had  any  fears  of  such 
designs  in  the  society  of  the  Cincinnati  at  large,  because 
he  never  would  have  suffered  himself  to  be  placed  at  its 
head  if  such  had  been  the  case. 

Mr.  Jefferson,  however,  says  further  that,  "  Disapprov 
ing  of  the  institution  as  much  as  I  did,  and  conscious  that 
I  knew  him  to  do  so,  he  could  never  suppose  that  I  meant 
to  include  him  among  the  Samsons  in  the  field,  whose 
object  was  to  draw  over  us  the  form,  as  they  made  the 
letter  say,  of  the  British  government,  and  especially  its 
aristocratic  member  and  hereditary  house  of  lords.  Add  to 
this  that  the  letter  saying,  '  that  two  out  of  the  three 
branches  of  legislature  were  against  us/  was  an  obvious 
exception  of  him ;  it  being  well  known  that  the  majorities 
in  the  two  branches  of  senate  and  representatives  were 
the  very  instruments  which  carried,  in  opposition  to  the  old 
and  real  republicans,  the  measures  which  were  the  subjects 
of  condemnation  in  this  letter." 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  177 


CHAPTER    X. 

The  society  of  Cincinnati  could  not  have  been  meant  by  the  phrase 
"Samsons  in  the  field"— The  language  of  the  Mazzei  letter,  as 
published  in  Jefferson's  "Works,  absurd — Jefferson's  last  parting 
with  general  Washington — The  time  of  his  death,  as  stated  in 
the  letter  to  Van  Buren  not  true— Federalists,  pretending  to  be 
Washington's  friends,  did  what  they  could  to  sink  his  character 
— The  measures  of  his  second  administration  not  imputable  to 
him,  but  to  his  counselors — Not  approved  by  the  republicans — 
Answers  of  the  houses  to  his  speech  when  about  to  retire,  op 
posed  by  Giles — Judge  Marshall's  account  of  the  feelings  of  the 
republican  party  upon  the  ratification  of  the  British  treaty — 
Letters  to  Melish,  W.  Jones,  and  John  Adam's— Jefferson  says 
general  Washington  was  not  a  federalist — No  truth  in  the  asser 
tion  that  Washington  was  not  a  federalist — Letter  to  Jay,  May, 

1796 Letter  to  Jefferson,  July,  1796 — No  correspondence  after 

this  letter  appears  on  Washington's  books,  with  Jefferson — Let 
ter  to  La  Fayette,  December,  1798— to  Timothy  Pickering,  Jan 
uary,  1799 — To  P.  Henry,  January,  1799 — Letters  to  H.  Lee — 
[Backe's  and  Freneau's  papers,  and  western  insurrection] — Let 
ter  to  J.  Jay — Washington  not  a  republican  in  the  sense  of  Jef 
ferson — Washington  a  federalist — Letter  to  B.  Washington, 
May,  1799— Jefferson's  letters  intended  for  history. 

THAT  the  society  of  the  Cincinnati,  as  a  body,  were 
not,  and  could  not  have  been,  the  persons  alluded  to  in  the 
expression  "  Samsons  in  the  field,"  is  evident  from  the 
fact,  that  very  few  of  them  had  gone  into  public  life.  A 
great  proportion  of  the  officers  of  whom  that  society  was 
composed,  had  returned  to  their  homes,  and  engaged  in  dif 
ferent  occupations  and  pursuits,  taking  no  further  part  in 
the  political  concerns  of  the  country,  than  to  lend  their  sup- 


178  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

port,  according  to  their  principles,  by  their  suffrages  and 
their  example,  to  the  constitution,  government  and  laws  of 
the  Union,  and  the  general  republican  institutions  of  the 
nation.  If  the  original  letter  to  Mazzei  was  in  the  precise 
form  in  which  what  Mr.  Jefferson  calls  a  press  copy  of  it 
appears  in  his  posthumous  works,  he  must  have  expressed 
himself  in  a  very  careless  and  inaccurate  manner.  In  that 
he  says,  "  against  us  are  the  executive,  the  judiciary,  two 
out  of  three  branches  of  the  legislature"  Neither  the 
executive,  nor  the  judiciary,  is  a  branch  of  the  legislature. 
The  constitution  divides  the  government  into  three  branch 
es — legislative,  executive  and  judicial.  The  first  section 
of  that  instrument  says,  "All  legislative  powers  herein 
granted  shall  be  vested  in  a  congress  of  the  United  States, 
which  shall  consist  of  a  senate  and  house  of  representa 
tives."  In  this  letter,  as  first  published  in  this  country, 
the  expression  was,  "  the  executive  and  the  judiciary,  two 
of  the  three  branches  of  our  government"  This  phraseo 
logy  was  perfectly  .correct,  and  such  as  might  have  been 
expected  from  a  scholar,  who  understood  the  meaning  and 
use  of  language,  and  from  a  statesman,  who  had  long  held 
one  of  the  high  offices  of  the  government.  And  it  will 
not  be  an  easy  task  to  persuade  any  reasonable  mind,  that 
Mr.  Jefferson  could  have  expressed  himself  so  loosely,  and 
so  inaccurately,  on  a  ^subject  so  familiar  to  him  as  that  of 
the  great  divisions  of  power  in  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States.  The  language  of  the  improved  copy  of 
the  letter  is  nonsensical.  In  the  letter  as  first  published, 
it  is  clear  and  explicit;  and  just  such  as  he  might  be  ex 
pected  to  make  use  of  on  such  an  occasion  as  that  which 
called  forth  the  letter.  That  the  copy  published  in  his 
works,  was  modified  so  as  to  answer  the  object  he  had  in 
view,  there  is  very  little  room  to  doubt.  He  wanted  to 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  179 

provide  a  way  to  except  general  Washington  from  the  gen 
eral  charge  of  anti-republicanism,  alleged  against  the  fed 
eralists  generally  in  the  letter ;  and  under  the  influence 
of  that  feeling,  he  changed  the  phraseology  of  the  letter 
in  such  a  manner  as  he  thought  would  admit  of  such  an 
exception.  In  endeavoring,  however,  to  guard  himself 
against  one  evil,  he  left  himself  exposed  to  the  full  force  of 
another,  as  will  be  shown  hereafter  in  some  further  re 
marks  upon  this  singular  composition. 

Mr.  Jefferson  then  says,  "  My  last  parting  with  general 
Washington  was  at  the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Adams,  in 
March,  1797,  and  was  warmly  affectionate  ;  and  I  never 
had  any  reason  to  believe  any  change  on  his  part,  as  there 
certainly  was  none  on  mine.  But  one  session  of  congress 
intervened  between  that  and  his  death  the  year  following, 
in  my  passage  to  and  from  which,  as  it  happened  to  be  not 
convenient  to  call  on  him,  I  never  had  another  opportuni 
ty  ;  and  as  the  cessation  of  correspondence  observed  dur 
ing  that  short  interval,  no  particular  circumstance  occurred 
for  epistolary  communication,  and  both  of  us  were  too  much 
oppressed  with  letter- writing,  to  trouble,  either  the  other, 
with  a  letter  about  nothing." 

This  passage  is  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  that  can 
be  found  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  extensive  correspondence. 
General  Washington  died  on  the  14th  of  December,  1799. 
From  March  4,  1797,  to  December  14,  1799,  is  two  years, 
nine  months,  and  ten  days.  Mr.  Jefferson  says,  "  But  one 
session  of  congress  intervened  between  Mr.  Adams's  in 
auguration,  viz.  March  4, 1797,  and  general  Washington's 
death,  December  14,  1799.  Mr.  Adams  called  an  extra 
ordinary  session  in  May,  1797.  Congress  again  met  in 
November,  1797,  some  weeks  earlier  than  the  usual  time 
of  their  assembling,  and  they  continued  in  session  until 


180  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

the  July  following — being  one  of  the  longest  sessions  that 
has  ever  occurred.  In  December,  1798,  the  usual  annual 
session  commenced ;  and  in  December,  1799,  the  fourth 
session  begun,  ten  days  before  general  Washington's  death. 
Thus,  in  order  to  shorten  the  time  during  which  no  inter 
course  occurred  between  himself  and  general  Washing 
ton,  after  Mr.  Adams's  inauguration,  and  to  give  a  plausi 
ble  reason  for  their  not  meeting  after  that  event,  Mr.  Jef 
ferson  strikes  out  a  year  at  least  from  the  lapse  of  time, 
and  two  entire  sessions  of  congress,  and  a  small  part  of  a 
third,  from  the  events  of  the  period.  And  what  renders 
it  the  more  extraordinary  is  the  fact,  that  during  the  whole 
of  the  time  alluded  to,  Mr.  Jefferson  was  vice  president  of 
the  United  States,  and  by  virtue  of  his  office  president  of 
the  senate,  and  was  actually  present,  and  presided  over 
that  body,  at  each  of  these  sessions.  Of  course,  he  could 
not  have  been  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  they  were  held  in 
regular  order.  By  adverting  to  general  Washington's 
correspondence,  recently  published  by  J.  Sparks,  it  will  be 
seen,  that  from  about  the  middle  of  November,  1798,  to 
the  middle  of  December  following,  general  Washington 
was  in  Philadelphia,  which  was  at  that  time  the  seat  of 
government.  When  he  left  that  city  for  Mount  Vernon, 
congress  had  been  in  session  about  two  weeks.  Whether 
the  vice  president  had,  during  that  period,  taken  his  seat 
as  president  of  the  senate,  or  not,  the  auther  of  this  work 
has  not  the  means  of  ascertaining.  If  he  had,  he  must 
have  been  in  Philadelphia  before  general  Washington 
left  it.  If  he  had  not,  he  postponed  the  time  of  enter 
ing  upon  his  official  duties  to  a  very  late  period,  and  it 
might  have  been  with  the  view  of  avoiding  a  meeting  with 
him. 

Mr.  Jefferson  says,  "  The  truth  is,  that  the  federalists 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  181 

pretending  to  be  the  exclusive  friends  of  general  Wash 
ington,  have  ever  done  what  they  could  to  sink  his  charac 
ter,  by  hanging  theirs  on  it,  and  by  representing  as  the 
enemy  of  republicans  him,  who,  of  all  men,  is  best  entitled 
to  the  appellation  of  the  father  of  that  republic  which  they 
were  endeavoring  to  subvert,  and  the  republicans  to  main 
tain."  That  general  Washington  believed  those  to  be 
his  friends  who  supported  his  administration,  and  defend 
ed  the  measures  which  he  recommended  and  approved, 
who  agreed  with  him  and  with  whom  he  agreed  in  senti 
ment  on  all  important  national  questions,  and  who  treated 
him  on  all  occasions  with  the  highest  degree  of  esteem,  re 
spect  and  confidence,  cannot  be  doubted.  That  those  who 
opposed  and  thwarted  the  general  course  of  his  adminis 
tration,  endeavored  to  defeat  the  great  measures  which 
he  recommended,  misrepresented  his  principles,  falsified 
his  sentiments,  accused  him  of  entertaining  monarchical 
predilections  and  propensities,  arid  endeavored  by  false 
hood  and  calumny  to  injure,  and,  as  far  as  was  in  their 
power,  to  destroy  his  character,  were  justly  considered  by 
him  as  his  enemies,  cannot  be  denied.  The  former  were 
federalists ;  the  latter  were,  to  a  man,  what  Mr.  Jefferson 
so  ostentatiously  calls  republicans.  Mr.  Jefferson  says  in 
the  letter  to  Mr.  Van  Buren,  "  general  Washington,  after 
the  retirement  of  his  first  cabinet  and  the  composition  of 
his  second,  entirely  federal,  and  at  the  head  of  which  was 
Mr.  Pickering  himself,  had  no  opportunity  of  hearing  both 
sides  of  any  question.  His  measures,  consequently,  took 
more  the  hue  of  the  party  in  whose  hands  he  was.  These 
measures  certainly  were  not  approved  by  the  republicans; 
yet  were  they  not  imputed  to  him,  but  to  ihe  counselors 
around  him." — Thus  to  avoid  the  charge  of  federalism  or* 
behalf  of  general  Washington,  Mr.  Jefferson  reduces  him 
to  the  degraded  condition  of  a  dupe — a  man  not  suffered 
16 


182 


THE    CHARACTER    OF 


to  exercise  his  own  judgment  or  understanding,  but  im 
posed  upon  by  artful  advisers,  who  deprived  him  of  the 
privileges  of  a  free  agent,  and  made  him  a  tool  in  their 
own  hands.  The  federalists  manifested  none  of  this  kind 
of  friendship  for  him.  They  admired  the  soundness  of  his 
principles,  the  clearness  of  his  understanding,  the  correct 
ness  of  his  judgment,  and  the  purity  of  his  motives;  and 
above  all,  his  entire  independence  of  all  selfishness  and  all 
party  views  and  interests. 

Mr.  Jefferson  in  his  letter  to  Dr.  Jones,  heretofore  refer 
red  to,  says,  "  We  were,  indeed,  dissatisfied  with  him  on 
his  ratification  of  the  British  treaty.  But  this  was  short 
lived."  So  long  after  the  ratification  of  that  treaty  as 
near  the  close  of  his  second  administration,  he  gave  notice 
to  congress  of  his  intention  to  withdraw  from  public  life ; 
the  answers  of  both  houses  to  that  annunciation,  evinced 
an  undiminished  veneration  for  his  character,  their  grate 
ful  sense  of  the  eminent  services  he  had  rendered  his 
country,  and  the  regret  they  felt  at  his  retiring  from  office ; 
but  Mr.  William  B.  Giles,  a  member  from  Virginia,  an  in 
timate  and  confidential  friend  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  one  of 
his  most  approved  republicans,  moved  in  the  house  of 
representatives,  to  strike  out  the  passage  from  the  answer 
which  expressed  a  grateful  conviction  that  his  wise,  firm, 
and  patriotic  administration,  had  been  signally  conducive 
to  the  success  of  the  present  form  of  government.  In  his 
remarks  on  the  question,  Mr.  Giles  said,  "  If  he  stood 
alone  in  his  opinion,  he  would  declare,  that  he  was  not 
convinced  that  the  administration  of  the  government  for 
these  six  years  had  been  wise  and  firm.  He  did  not  re- 
regret  the  president's  retiring  from  office.  He  hoped  he 
;jvould  retire,  and  enjoy  the  happiness  that  awaited  his  re 
tirement.  He  believed  it  would  more  conduce  to  that  hap 
piness  that  he  should  retire  than  if  he  should  remain  in 


THOMAS     JEFFERSON.  183 

office."^  In  this  measure  of  republican  friendship  for  gen 
eral  Washington,  Mr.  Giles  obtained  the  votes  of  ten  of 
the  members  of  the  house  in  addition  to  his  own.  These 
are  the  people  whom  Mr.  Jefferson  calls  general  Washing 
ton's'  real  friends,  who  preserved  his  memory  embalmed 
in  their  hearts. 

Judge  Marshall,  however,  presents  their  friendly  feel 
ings  in  a  somewhat  different  light.  After  giving  an  ac 
count  of  the  proceedings  on  the  British  treaty,  he  says — 
"If  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  increased  the  number  of 
its  open  advocates,  by  stimulating  the  friends  of  the  ad 
ministration  to  exert  themselves  in  its  defence,  it  seemed 
also  to  give  increased  acrimony  to  the  opposition.  Such 
hold  had  the  president  taken  of  the  affections  of  the  peo 
ple,  that  even  his  enemies  had  deemed  it  generally  neces 
sary  to  preserve,  with  regard  to  him,  external  marks  of 
decency  and  respect.  Previous  to  the  mission  of  Mr.  Jay, 
charges  against  the  chief  magistrate,  though  frequently  in 
sinuated,  had  seldom  been  directly  made ;  and  the  cover 
under  which  the  attacks  upon  his  character  were  conduct 
ed,  evidenced  the  caution  with  which  it  was  deemed  neces 
sary  to  proceed.  That  mission  visibly  affected  the  deco 
rum  which  had  been  usually  observed  towards  him,  and 
the  ratification  of  the  treaty  brought  into  open  view  sensa 
tions  which  had  long  been  ill  concealed.  With  equal 
virulence,  the  military  and  political  character  of  the  presi 
dent  was  attacked,  and  he  was  averred  to  be  totally  desti 
tute  of  merit  either  as  a  soldier  or  a  statesman.  The 
calumnies  with  which  he  was  assailed  were  not  confined 
to  his  public  conduct ;  even  his  qualities  as  a  man  were 
the  subjects  of  detraction.  That  he  had  violated  the  con 
stitution  in  negotiating  a  treaty  without  the  previous  ad 
vice  of  the  senate,  and  i-n  embracing  within  that  treaty 

*  Pitkin's  Pol.  and  Civ.  Hist.,  vol.  2,  page  495. 


184 


THE   CHARACTER  OF 


subjects  belonging  exclusively  to  the  legislature,  was  open 
ly  maintained,  for  which  an  impeachment  was  publicly 
suggested ;  and  that  he  had  drawn  from  the  treasury  for 
his  private  use  more  than  the  salary  annexed  to  his  office 
was  unblushingly  asserted."  Let  it  be  remembered/that 
the  party  from  whom  these  attacks  proceeded,  and  by 
whom  these  charges  were  made,  was  formed  by  Mr.  Jeffer 
son,  that  they  were  under  his  absolute  control  and  direc 
tion,  depended  entirely  on  his  countenance  and  influence 
for  their  growth  and  success,  and  could  have  been  at  any 
moment  checked  or  silenced  in  their  career,  if  he  had 
thought  it  expedient  to  exert  his  power  over  them.  That 
power  not  having  been  exercised,  he  is  justly  responsible 
for  the  general  course  pursued  by  them,  as  well  as  for  the 
particular  measures  by  which  their  schemes  were  carried 
into  effect. 

That  the  view  which  has  been  taken  of  this  subject,  and 
that  the  facts  disclosed  furnish  sufficient  evidence  that  Mr. 
Jefferson  was  the  enemy  of  general  Washington,  it  is  be 
lieved  cannot  be  denied. 

At  the  same  time,  whilst  Mr.  Jefferson  was,  in  the  se 
cret  and  artful  manner  that  has  been  described,  endeavor 
ing  to  undermine  general  Washington's  reputation,  and 
depreciate  his  talents  and  patriotism,  he  had  sagacity 
enough  to  know,  that  it  would  not  be  safe  for  him  to  come 
out  openly,  and  without  disguise,  and  attack  him  before 
the  nation.  But  whilst  endeavoring  by  insinuations,  and 
covert  suggestions,  to  injure  his  character,  he  still  car 
ried  on  the  farce  of  professing  to  be  his  friend  and  admir 
er  ;  and  ascribed  all  his  errors  and  mistakes  in  policy  and 
measures,  to  the  undue  and  improper  influence  exercised 
over  him  by  his  federal  associates.  But  being  perfectly 
aware  of  his  extensive  popularity,  and  of  the  extreme  at 
tachment  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  him  as 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  185 

their  great  benefactor,  as  well  as  of  their  sincere  and  fer 
vent  gratitude  for  his  services,  both  civil  and  military,  Mr. 
Jefferson  took  great  pains  to  inculcate  the  idea,  that  gen 
eral  Washington  was,  in  reality,  what  in  the  Jefferson  vo 
cabulary  was  called,  a  "  republican  ;  "  but  that,  by  the  in 
fluence  and  address  of  those  who  were  associated  with  him 
in  the  government,  he  had  been  drawn  into  an  approval  of 
their  measures;  and,  at  the  same  time,  if  he  had  been  left 
to  himself,  he  would  have  gone  cordially  with  the  Jeffer 
son  party.  In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Melish,  dated  January  13, 
1813,  (vol.  4,  Jefferson's  Works,  page  182)  he  says,  "  You 
expected  to  discover  the  difference  of  our  party  principles  in 
general  Washington's  valedictory  and  my  inaugural  ad 
dress.  Not  at  all.  General  Washington  did  not  harbor 
one  principle  of  federalism.  He  was  neither  an  Anglo- 
man,  a  monarchist,  nor  a  separatist.  He  sincerely  wish 
ed  the  people  to  have  as  much  self-government  as  they 
were  competent  to  exercise  themselves.  The  only  point 
on  which  he  and  I  differed  in  opinion,  was,  that  I  had 
more  confidence  than  he  had  in  the  natural  integrity  and 
discretion  of  the  people,  and  in  the  safety  and  extent  to 
which  they  might  trust  themselves  with  a  control  over  their 
government." 

In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Walter  Jones,  which  has  been  referred 
to  in  this  work,  he  says,  "  I  am  satisfied  the  great  body  of 
republicans  think  of  him  as  I  do.  We  were,  indeed,  dis 
satisfied  with  him  on  his  ratification  of  the  British  treaty. 
But  this  was  short-lived.  We  knew  his  honesty,  the 
wiles  with  which  he  was  encompassed,  and  that  age  had 
already  begun  to  relax  the  firmness  of  his  purposes,  and  I 
am  convinced  he  is  more  deeply  seated  in  the  love  and 
gratitude  of  the  republicans  than  in  the  pharisaical  hom 
age  of  the  federal  monarchist." 

It  is  well  known  that  Mr.  Jefferson  and  his  partizans,. 
16* 


186  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

much  as  they  professed  to  dislike  the  general  policy  and 
the  specific  measures  of  general  Washington's  adminis 
tration,  affected  to  be  much  more  shocked  hy  the  course 
pursued  under  Mr.  Adams's  administration.  In  a  letter 
from  general  Washington  to  president  Adams,  dated  June 
17,  1798,  (Washington's  Writings,  vol.  4,  page  241,)  he 
says,  "  I  pray  you  to  believe,  that  no  one  has  read  the 
various  approbatory  addresses  which  have  been  presented 
to  you  with  more  heart-felt  satisfaction  than  I  have  done." 

In  another  letter  to  president  Adams,  (in  the  same  work, 
page  261,)  dated  July  13,  1798,  he  says,  "  It  was  not  pos 
sible  for  me  to  remain  ignorant  of,  or  indifferent  to,  recent 
transactions.  The  conduct  of  the  directory  of  France  to 
wards  our  country,  their  insidious  hostilities  to  its  govern 
ment,  their  various  practices  to  withdraw  the  affections  of 
the  people  from  it,  the  evident  tendency  of  their  arts  and 
those  of  their  agents  to  countenance  and  invigorate  oppo 
sition,  their  disregard  of  solemn  treaties  and  the  laws  of 
nations,  their  war  upon  our  defenceless  commerce,  their 
treatment  of  our  minister  of  peace,  and  their  demands 
amounting  to  tribute,  could  not  fail  to  excite  in  me  cor 
responding  sentiments  with  those  which  my  countrymen 
have  so  generally  expressed  in  their  affectionate  addresses 
to  you.  Believe  me,  sir,  no  one  can  more  cordially  ap 
prove  of  the  wise  and  prudent  measures  of  your  adminis 
tration.  They  ought  to  inspire  universal  confidence,  and 
will,  no  doubt,  combined  with  the  state  of  things,  call  from 
congress  such  laws  and  means  as  will  enable  you  to  meet 
the  full  force  and  extent  of  the  crisis." 

In  order  to  show  that  there  was  not  the  slightest  foun 
dation  in  truth  for  the  pretence  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Jef 
ferson  that  general  Washington  was  not  a  federalist,  but 
that  he  was  in  reality  "  a  republican,"  according  to  the 
meaning  which  he  gave  to  the  title,  the  following,  out  of 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  187 

a  multitude  of  papers  of  the  same  description,  in  his  cor 
respondence  published  by  Sparks,  may  be  adduced. 

In  a  letter  to  John  Jay,  dated  May  8,  1796,  (vol.  11, 
page  123,)  he  says,  "  I  am  sure  the  mass  of  citizens  in 
these  United  States  mean  well,  and  I  firmly  believe  they 
will  always  act  well  whenever  they  can  obtain  a  right  un 
derstanding  of  matters ;  but  in  some  parts  of  the  Union, 
where  the  sentiments  of  their  delegates  and  leaders  are 
adverse  to  the  government  and  great  pains  are  taken  to 
inculcate  a  belief  that  their  rights  are  assailed  and  their 
liberties  endangered,  it  is  not  easy  to  accomplish  this ;  es 
pecially  as  is  the  case  invariably  when  the  inventors  and 
abettors  of  pernicious  measures  use  infinitely  more  indus 
try  in  disseminating  the  poison  than  the  well-disposed 
part  of  the  community  in  furnishing  the  antidote.  To  this 
source  all  our  discontents  may  be  traced,  and  from  it  all 
our  embarrassments  proceed.  Hence  serious  misfortunes, 
originating  in  misrepresentation,  frequently  flow  and 
spread  before  they  can  be  dissipated  by  truth. 

"  These  things  do  as  you  have  supposed,  fill  my  mind 
with  concern  and  with  serious  anxiety." 

In  a  letter  to  Thomas  Jefferson,  dated  July  6,  1796, 
(Ibid,  138)  he  says— 

"  If  I  had  entertained  any  suspicions  before,  that  the 
queries  which  have  been  published  in  Backe's  paper  pro 
ceeded  from  you,  the  assurance  you  have  given  of  the 
contrary  would  have  removed  them ;  but  the  truth  is,  I 
harbored  none.  I  am  at  no  loss  to  conjecture  from  what 
source  they  flowed,  through  what  channel  they  were  con 
veyed,  and  for  what  purpose  they  and  similar  publications 
appear.  They  were  .known  to  be  in  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Parker  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  session  of  congress. 
They  were  shown  about  by  Mr.  Giles  during  the  ses- 


188  THE     CHARACTER    OB' 

sion,  and  they  made  their  public  exhibition  about  the  close 
of  it. 

"  Perceiving  and  probably  hearing,  that  no  abuse  in  the 
gazettes  would  induce  me  to  take  notice  of  anonymous 
publications  against  me,  those  who  were  disposed  to  do  me 
such  friendly  offices,  have  embraced  without  restraint  every 
opportunity  to  weaken  the  confidence  of  the  people  ;  and 
by  having  the  whole  game  in  their  hands,  they  have 
scrupled  not  to  publish  things  that  do  not  as  well  as  those 
which  do  exist,  and  to  mutilate  the  latter  so  as  to  make 
them  subserve  the  purposes  which  they  have  in  view. 

"  As  you  have  mentioned  the  subject  yourself,  it  would 
riot  be  frank,  candid,  or  friendly  to  conceal  that  your  con 
duct  has  been  represented  as  derogating  from  that  opinion 
I  had  conceived  you  entertained  of  me;  that  to  your  par 
ticular  friends  and  connections  you  have  described,  and 
they  have  denounced  me  as  a  person  under  a  dangerous 
influence ;  and  that,  if  I  would  listen  more  to  some  other 
opinions,  all  would  be  well.  My  answer  invariably  has 
been,  that  I  had  never  discovered  anything  in  the  conduct 
of  Mr.  Jefferson  to  raise  suspicions  in  my  mind  of  his  in 
sincerity;  that  if  he  would  retrace  my  public  conduct 
while  he  was  in  the  administration,  abundant  proofs  would 
occur  to  him,  that  truth  and  right  decisions  were  the  sole 
objects  of  my  pursuit;  that  there  were  as  many  instances 
within  his  own  knowledge  of  my  having  decided  against  as 
in  favor  of  the  opinions  of  the  person  evidently  alluded  to  ; 
and,  moreover,  that  I  was  no  believer  in  the  infallibility  of 
the  politics  or  measures  of  any  man  living.  In  short,  that 
I  was  no  party  man  myself,  and  the  first  wish  of  my  heart 
was,  if  parties  did  exist,  to  reconcile  them. 

"  To  this  I  may  add,  and  very  truly,  that  until  within 
the  last  year  or  two,  I  had  no  conception  that  parties 
would  or  even  could  go  to  the  length  I  have  been  witness 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  189 

to;  nor  did  I  believe  until  lately,  that  it  was  within  the 
bounds  of  probability,  hardly  within  those  of  possibility, 
that  while  I  was  using  my  utmost  exertions  to  establish  a 
national  character  of  our  own,  independent,  as  far  as  our 
obligations  and  justice  would  permit,  of  every  nation  of  the 
earth,  and  wished,  by  steering  a  steady  course,  to  preserve 
this  country  from  the  horrors  of  a  desolating  war,  I  should 
be  accused  of  being  the  enemy  of  one  nation,  and  subject 
to  the  influence  of  another;  and  to  prove  it.  that  every  act 
of  my  administration  would  be  tortured,  and  the  grossest 
and  most  insidious  misrepresentations  of  them  be  made, 
by  giving  one  side  only  of  a  subject,  and  that  too  in  such 
exaggerated  and  indecent  terms  as  could  scarcely  be  ap 
plied  to  a  Nero,  a  notorious  defaulter,  or  even  to  a  com 
mon  pick-pocket." 

In  a  note  subjoined  to  this  letter,  it  is  said,  "  No  corres 
pondence  after  this  date  between  Washington  and  Jeffer 
son  appears  in  the  letter  books,  except  a  brief  note  the 
month  following,  upon  an  unimportant  matter.  It  has 
been  reported  and  believed,  that  letters  or  papers,  supposed 
to  have  passed  between  them,  or  to  relate  to  their  inter 
course  ivith  each  other  at  subsequent  dates,  were  secretly 
withdrawn  from  the  archives  of  Mount  Vernon,  after  the 
death  of  the  former.  Concerning  this  fact,  no  positive 
testimony  remains,  either  for  or  against  it,  among  Wash 
ington's  papers,  as  they  came  into  my  hands." 

In  a  letter  from  general  Washington  to  general  La 
fayette,  dated  December  25,  1798,  (Ibid,  376,)  he  says— 
"  It  has  been  the  policy  of  France,  and  that  of  the  opposi 
tion  party  among  ourselves,  to  inculcate  a  belief  that  all 
those  who  have  exerted  themselves  to  keep  this  country 
in  peace,  did  it  from  an  overweening  attachment  to  Great 
Britain,  But  it  is  a  solemn  truth,  and  you  may  count 
upon  it,  that  it  is  void  of  foundation,  and  propagated  for 


190 


THE     CHARACTER    OF 


no  other  purpose,  than  to  excite  popular  clamor  against 
those  whose  aim  was  peace,  and  whom  they  wished  out  of 
their  way." 

In  a  letter  to  Timothy  Pickering,  dated  August  29,  1797, 
(Ibid,  387,)  he  says,  "  That  France  had  stepped  far  be 
yond  the  line  of  rectitude,  cannot  be  denied ;  that  she  has 
been  encouraged  to  do  so  by  a  party  among  ourselves  is, 
to  my  mind,  equally  certain." 

In  a  letter  to  Patrick  Henry,  dated  January  15,  1799, 
(Ibid,  387,)  he  says — 

"  It  would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  attempt  to  bring  to  the 
view  of  a  person  of  your  observation  and  discernment,  the 
endeavors  of  a  certain  party  among  us  to  disquiet  the  public 
mind  with  unfounded  alarms;  to  arraign  every  act  of  the 
administration ;  to  set  the  people  at  variance  with  their 
government;  and  to  embarrass  all  its  measures.  Equally 
useless  would  it  be  to  predict  what  must  be  the  inevi 
table  consequences  of  such  a  policy,  if  it  cannot  be  ar 
rested. 

"  Unfortuately,  and  extremely  do  I  regret  it,  the  state  of 
Virginia  has  taken  the  lead  in  this  opposition.  I  have 
said  the  state,  because  the  conduct  of  its  legislature  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world  will  authorize  the  expression,  and  be 
cause  it  is  an  incontrovertible  fact,  that  the  principal  lead 
ers  of  the  opposition  dwell  in  it,  and  that,  with  the  help  of 
the  chiefs  in  other  states,  all  the  plans  are  arranged,  and 
systematically  pursued  by  their  followers  in  other  parts  of 
the  Union ;  though  in  no  state  except  Kentucky,  that  I 
have  heard  of,  has  legislative  countenance  been  obtained 
beyond  Virginia." 

"  But,  at  such  a  crisis  as  this,  when  every  thing  dear 
and  valuable  to  us  is  assailed;  when  this  party  hangs  upon 
the  wheels  of  government  as  a  dead  weight,  opposing 
every  measure  that  is  calculated  for  defence  and  self-pre- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  191 

servation,  abetting  the  nefarious  views  of  another  nation 
upon  our  rights,  preferring,  as  long  as  they  dare  contend 
openly  against  the  spirit  and  resentment  of  the  people,  the 
interest  of  France  to  the  welfare  of  their  own  country, 
justifying  the  former  at  the  expense  of  the  latter;  when 
every  act  of  their  own  government  is  tortured  by  construc 
tions  they  will  not  bear,  into  attempts  to  infringe  and 
trample  upon  the  constitution  with  a  view  to  introduce 
monarchy ;  when  the  most  unceasing  and  the  purest  exer 
tions  which  were  making  to  maintain  a  neutrality,  pro 
claimed  by  the  executive,  approved  unequivocally  by  con 
gress,  by  the  state  legislatures,  nay,  by  the  people  them 
selves  in  various  meetings,  and  to  preserve  the  country  in 
peace,  are  charged  with  being  measures  calculated  to  favor 
Great  Britain  at  the  expense  of  France,  and  all  those,  who 
had  any  agency  in  it  are  accused  of  being  under  the  influ 
ence  of  the  former  and  her  pensioners  ;  when  measures 
are  systematically  and  pertinaciously  pursued,  which  must 
eventually  dissolve  the  Union  or  produce  coercion  ;  I  say, 
when  these  things  have  become  so  obvious,  ought  charac 
ters  who  are  best  able  to  rescue  their  country  from  the 
pending  evil  to  remain  at  home  ?  Rather  ought  they  not 
to  come  forward,  and  by  their  talents  and  influence  stand 
in  the  breach  which  such  conduct  has  made  on  the  peace 
and  happiness  of  this  country,  and  oppose  the  widening 
of  it? 

"  Vain  will  it  be  to  look  for  peace  and  happiness,  or  for 
the  security  of  liberty  or  property,  if  civil  discord  should 
ensue.  And  what  else  can  result  from  the  policy  of  those 
among  us,  who,  by  all  the  measures  in  their  power,  are 
driving  matters  to  extremity,  if  they  cannot  be  counteract 
ed  effectually  ?  The  views  of  men  can  only  be  known,  or 
guessed  at,  by  their  words  or  actions.  Can  those  of  the 
leaders  of  opposition  be  mistaken,  then,  if  judged  by  this 


192  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

rule  ?  That  they  are  followed  by  numbers  who  are  un 
acquainted  with  their  designs,  and  suspect  as  little  the 
tendency  of  their  principles,  I  am  fully  persuaded.  But, 
if  their  conduct  is  viewed  with  indifference,  if  there  are 
activity  and  misrepresentation  on  one  side,  and  supineness 
on  the  other,  their  numbers  accumulated  by  intriguing  and 
discontented  foreigners  under  proscription,  who  were  at 
war  with  their  own  governments,  and  the  greater  part  of 
them  with  all  governments,  they  will  increase,  and  nothing 
short  of  Omniscience  can  foretell  the  consequences." 

The  following  extracts  from  general  Washington's  let 
ters  will  show  how  far  the  allegation  that  he  was  not  a 
federalist  but  was  one  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  republicans,  is  en- 
tilled  to  credit. 

In  the  10th  volume  of  Washington's  Writings,  (page 
357,)  is  a  letter  to  Henry  Lee,  from  which  the  following 
passage  is  copied — 

"  That  there  are  in  this,  as  well  as  in  all  other  countries, 
discontented  characters,  I  well  know ;  as  also  that  these 
characters  are  actuated  by  very  different  views ;  some 
good,  from  an  opinion  that  the  measures  of  the  general 
government  are  impure  ;  some  bad,  if  I  might  be  allowed 
to  use  so  harsh  an  expression,  diabolical,  inasmuch  as  they 
are  not  only  meant  to  impede  the  measures  of  that  gov 
ernment  generally,  but  more  especially  as  a  great  means 
towards  the  accomplishment  of  it,  to  destroy  the  confidence, 
which  it  is  necessary  for  the  people  to  place,  until  they 
have  unequivocal  proof  of  demerit,  in  their  public  servants. 
In  this  light  I  consider  myself,  whilst  1  am  an  occupant  of 
office;  and  if  they  were  to  go  further  and  call  me  their 
slave  during  this  period,  I  would  not  dispute  the  point. 

"  But  in  what  will  this  abuse  terminate?  For  the  re 
sult,  a^  it  respects  myself,  I  care  not ;  for  I  have  a  consola 
tion  within,  that  no  earthly  efforts  can  deprive  me  of,  and 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  193 

that  is,  that  neither  ambitious  nor  interested  motives  have 
influenced  my  conduct.  The  arrows  of  malevolence,  there 
fore,  however  barbed  and  well  pointed,  never  can  reach 
the  most  vulnerable  part  of  me  ;  though,  while  I  am  up  as 
a  mark,  they  will  be  continually  aimed.  The  publications 
in  Freneau's  and  Backers  papers  are  outrages  on  common 
decency  ;  and  they  progress  in  that  style,  in  proportion  as 
their  pieces  are  treated  with  contempt,  and  are  passed  by 
in  silence  by  those  at  whom  they  are  aimed.  The  ten 
dency  of  them,  however,  is  too  obvious  to  be  mistaken  by 
men  of  cool  and  dispassionate  minds,  and,  in  my  opinion, 
ought  to  alarm  them ;  because  it  is  difficult  to  prescribe 
bounds  to  the  effect." 

At  page  428,  of  the  same  volume,  is  a  letter  to  the  same 
gentleman,  in  which  it  is  said — 

"  It  is  with  equal  pride  and  satisfaction  I  add,  that  as 
far  as  my  information  extends,  this  insurrection  [in  Penn 
sylvania]  is  viewed  with  universal  indignation  and  abhor 
rence,  except  by  those  who  have  never  missed  an  opportuni 
ty  by  side  blows  or  otherwise  to  attack  the  general  govern 
ment  ;  and  even  among  these  there  is  not  a  spirit  hardy 
enough  yet  openly  to  justify  the  daring  infractions  of  law 
and  order;  but  by  palliatives  they  are  attempting  to  sus 
pend  all  proceedings  against  the  insurgents  until  congress 
shall  have  decided  on  the  case,  thereby  intending  to  gain 
time,  and  if  possible  to  make  the  evil  more  extensive, 
more  formidable,  and  of  course  more  difficult  to  counteract 
and  subdue. 

"  I  consider  this  insurrection  as  the  first  formidable 
fruit  of  the  democratic  societies,  brought  forth,!  believe,  too 
prematurely  for  their  own  views,  which  may  contribute  to 
the  annihilation  of  them. 

"  That  these  societies  were  instituted  by  the  artful  and 
designing  members  (many  of  their  body  I  have  no  doubt 
17 


194  THE  CHARACTER  OF 

mean  well,  but  know  little  of  the  real  plan,)  primarily  to 
sow  among  the  people  the  seeds  of  jealousy  and  distrust 
of  the  government,  by  destroying  all  confidence  in  the  ad 
ministration  of  it,  and  that  these  doctrines  have  been  bud 
ding  and  blowing  ever  since,  is  not  new  to  any  one  who 
is  acquainted  with  the  character  of"their  leaders,  and  has 
been  attentive  to  their  manoeuvres.  I  early  gave  it  as  my 
opinion  to  the  confidential  characters  around  me,  that  if 
these  societies  were  not  counteracted,  (not  by  prosecutions, 
the  ready  way  to  make  them  grow  stronger,)  or  did  not 
fall  into  disesteem  from  the  knowledge  of  their  origin,  and 
the  views  with  which  they  had  been  instituted  by  their 
father  Genet,  for  purposes  well  known  to  the  government, 
they  would  shake  the  government  to  its  foundation.  Time 
and  circumstances  have  confirmed  me  in  this  opinion  ;  and 
I  deeply  regret  the  probable  consequences ;  not  as  they 
will  affect  me  personally,  for  I  have  not  long  to  act  on  this 
theatre,  and  sure  I  am  that  not  a  man  amongst  them  can 
be  more  anxious  to  put  me  aside,  than  I  am  to  sink  into 
the  profoundest  retirement,  but  because  I  see,  under  a  dis 
play  of  popular  and  fascinating  guises,  the  most  diabolical 
attempts  to  destroy  the  best  fabric  of  human  government 
and  happiness  that  has  ever  been  presented  for  the  accept 
ance  of  mankind" 

In  a  letter  to  Burgess  Ball,  at  the  437th  page  of  the 
same  volume,  is  the  following  passage — "  I  hear  with  the 
greatest  pleasure  of  the  spirit  which  so  generally  pervades 
the  militia  of  every  state  that  has  been  called  upon  on  the 
present  occasion ;  and  of  the  decided  discountenance  the 
disturbers  of  public  peace  and  order  have  met  with  in 
their  attempts  to  spread  their  nefarious  doctrines,  with  a 
view  to  poison  and  discontent  the  minds  of  the  people 
against  the  government;  particularly  endeavoring  to  have 
it  believed  that  their  liberties  were  assailed,  and  that  all 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON. 


195 


the  wicked  and  abominable  measures  that  can  be  devised 
under  specious  guises  are  practiced  to  sap  the  constitution, 
and  lay  the  foundation  of  future  slavery. 

"  The  insurrection  in  the  western  counties  of  this  state 
(Pennsylvania)  is  a  striking  evidence  of  this,  and  may  be 
considered  as  the  first  ripe  fruits  of  the  democratic  socie 
ties.  I  did  not,  I  must  confess,  expect  it  would  come  to 
maturity  so  soon,  though  I  never  had  a  doubt  that  such 
conduct  would  produce  some  such  issue,  if  it  did  not  meet 
the  frowns  of  those  who  were  well  disposed  to  order  and 
good  government ;  for  can  anything  be  more  absurd,  more 
arrogant,  or  more  pernicious  to  the  peace  of  society,  than 
for  self-created  "bodies,  forming  themselves  into  permanent 
censors,  and  under  the  shade  of  night  in  a  conclave  re 
solving  that  acts  of  congress  which  have  undergone  the 
most  deliberate  and  solemn  discussion  by  the  representa 
tives  of  the  people,  chosen  for  the  express  purpose,  and 
bringing  with  them  from  the  different  parts  of  the  Union 
the  sense  of  their  constituents,  endeavoring  as  far  as  the 
nature  of  the  thing  will  admit,  to  form  their  will  into  laws 
for  the  government  of  the  whole ;  I  say,  under  these  cir 
cumstances,  for  a  self-created  permanent  body  (for  no  one 
denies  the  right  of  the  people  to  meet  occasionally  to  peti 
tion  for  or  remonstrate  against  any  act  of  the  legislature) 
to  declare  that  this  act  is  unconstitutional,  and  that  act  is 
pregnant  with  mischiefs,  and  that  all  who  vote  contrary  to 
their  dogmas  are  actuated  by  selfish  motives  or  under 
foreign  influence,  nay,  are  traitors  to  their  country  ?  Is 
such  a  stretch  of  arrogant  presumption  to  be  reconciled 
with  laudable  motives,  especially  when  we  see  the  same 
set  of  men  endeavoring  to  destroy  all  confidence  in  the  ad 
ministration  by  arraigning  all  its  acts,  without  knowing 
on  what  ground  or  with  what  information  it  proceeds? " 
In  a  letter  to  John  Nicholas,  dated  March  8,  1798,  he 


196 


THE    CHARACTER    OF 


says,  "  But  as  the  attempts  to  explain  away  the  constitu 
tion  and  weaken  the  government  are  now  become  so  open, 
and  the  desire  of  placing  the  affairs  of  this  country  under 
the  influence  and  control  of  a  foreign  nation  is  so  appa 
rent  and  strong,  it  is  hardly  to  be  expected  that  a  resort  to 
covert  means  to  effect  these  objects  will  be  longer  re 
garded." 

The  following  is  an  extract  of  a  letter  to  John  Jay, 
(Washington's  Writings,  volume  10,  page  452.) 

"  That  the  self-created  societies,  which  have  spread 
themselves  over  this  country,  have  been  laboring  inces 
santly  to  sow  the  seeds  of  distrust,  jealousy,  and  of  course 
discontent,  thereby  hoping  to  effect  some  revolution  in 
the  government,  is  not  unknown  to  you.  That  they  have 
been  the  fomenters  of  the  western  disturbances  admits  of 
no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  any  one  who  will  examine  their 
conduct;  but  fortunately  they  precipitated  a  crisis  for 
which  they  were  not  prepared,  and  thereby  have  unfolded 
views  which  will,  I  trust,  effectuate  their  annihilation 
sooner  than  it  might  otherwise  have  happened;  at  the 
same  time  that  it  has  afforded  an  occasion  for  the  people 
of  this  country  to  show  their  abhorrence  of  the  result,  and 
their  attachment  to  the  constitution  and  the  laws ;  for  I 
believe  that  five  times  the  number  of  militia  that  was  re 
quired  would  have  come  forward,  if  it  had  been  necessary, 
in  support  of  them." 

These  extracts  from  general  Washington's  private  cor 
respondence,  without  reference  to  his  public  acts  whilst 
president  of  the  United  States,  will  satisfy  any  reasonable 
and  upright  mind,  that  there  was  not  the  slightest  ground 
for  the  pretence  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  that  he  was 
not  a  federalist,  in  principle  as  well  as  in  conduct ;  and 
still  less  for  the  assertion,  that  he  was  what  the  latter 
called  a  republican — that  is,  a  member  of  his  own  am- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  197 

bilious,  aspiring  party.  No  person  can  doubt  for  a  moment 
to  whom  general  Washington  alludes,  when  he  speaks  of 
the  opposition — the  leaders  of  that  party — or  the  language 
of  his  letter  to  Patrick  Henry,  who  was  originally  opposed 
to  many  things  in  the  constitution,  but  more  opposed  to 
the  principles  of  the  democratic,  or  republican  party,  when 
he  expresses  his  regret  that  the  state  of  Virginia  had  ta 
ken  the  lead  in  that  opposition  ;  and  justifies  the  charge 
by  saying  that  the  principal  leaders  of  that  opposition  dwell 
in  Virginia — when  he  says  this  party  "  hangs  upon  the 
wheels  of  government  as  a  dead  weight,  opposing  every 
measure  that  is  calculated  for  defence  and  self-preserva 
tion,  abetting  the  nefarious  views  of  another  nation  upon 
our  rights,  preferring,  as  long  as  they  dare  contend  openly 
against  the  spirit  and  resentment  of  the  people,  the  inter 
est  of  France  to  the  welfare  of  their  own  country."  He 
meant  the  democratic  party,  called  by  Mr.  Jefferson  the 
republican  party,  of  which  he  was  the  founder  and  the  ac 
knowledged  head,  and  over  which  he  maintained  the  most 
controlling  influence  and  the  most  absolute  sway. 

But  to  put  the  question  of  general  Washington's  feder 
alism  beyond  the  reach  of  doubt  or  cavil,  and  of  course  to 
fix  upon  all  Mr.  Jefferson's  declarations  and  suggestions 
on  that  subject  the  mark  of  falsehood,  the  following  extract 
from  a  letter  to  judge  Washington,  dated  May  5,  1799,. 
is  adduced : — 

"  Your  letter  of  the  26th  ultimo,  as  also  that  of  the  10th,. 
has  been  duly  received.  The  election  of  generals  Lee 
and  Marshall  are  grateful  to  my  feelings.  I  wish,  how 
ever,  both  of  them  had  been  elected  by  greater  majorities ; 
but  they  are  elected,  and  that  alone  is  pleasing. 

"  As  the  tide  is  turned,  I  hope  it  will  come  in  with  a  full 
flow ;  but  this  will  not  happen  if  there  is  any  relaxation 
on  the  part  of  the  federalists.  We  are  sure  there  will  be 


198  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

none  on  the  part  of  the  republicans,  as  they  have  very  er 
roneously  called  themselves." 

It  would  have  been  difficult  for  Mr.  Jefferson,  with  all 
his  ingenuity  in  evading  the  force  of  truth,  and  his  extra 
ordinary  skill  in  presenting  any  favorite  topic  to  the  public 
mind  under  false  coloring,  and  in  supporting  it  by  falla 
cious  reasoning,  to  pervert  the  meaning  of  this  plain  and 
explicit  language.  He  might,  and  probably  he  would  have 
resorted  to  the  explanation  that  general  Washington's 
powers  of  rnind,  which  he  had  some  years  before  alleged 
had  given  way,  had  at  the  date  of  this  letter  entirely  fail 
ed;  and  that  he  must  have  been  unconscious  not  only  of 
what  he  said,  but  of  what  he  thought.  This  letter  is  dated 
more  than  two  years  after  he  had  retired  from  the  admin 
istration  of  the  government;  and,  of  course,  he  had,  dur 
ing  that  period,  been  out  of  the  way  of  the  corrupting  in 
fluence  of  federal  advisers  and  councilors,,  and  in  a  situa 
tion  to  act  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own  unbiassed 
understanding  and  judgment.  As  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  mistake  his  own  sentiments  on  a  subject  which 
had  occupied  his  thoughts  and  governed  his  conduct  for 
the  eight  years  during  which  he  had  been  at  the  head  of 
the  government,  and  as  his  administration  had  been  uni 
formly  regulated  by  federal  principles,  the  attempt  to  re 
present  him  as  having  been,  at  heart,  a  JefTersonian  repub 
lican,  was  a  calumny  upon  his  pure  and  exalted  character. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind,  that  Mr.  Jefferson's  letter  to 
Walter  Jones,  which  has  been  quoted,  is  dated  in  1814, 
and  that  to  Martin  Van  Buren,  June  29, 1824 — the  last  two 
years  before  his  death,  and  twenty-five  years  after  the 
death  of  general  Washington.  His  object  in  writing  the 
letter  at  such  a  late  period  of  his  life,  was  doubtless  what  he 
says  at  the  close  of  it  had  been  his  practice  in  other  cases  ; 
viz.,  to  leave  it  in  the  hands  of  a  friend  and  to  "  throw 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  199 

light  on  history,  and  recall  that  into  the  path  of  truth." 
Fortunately  for  general  Washington's  reputation,  he  left 
behind  him  abundant  materials  for  the  light  of  history, 
which  will  destroy  every  attempt  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  how 
ever  secretly  and  artfully  made,  to  misrepresent  his  prin 
ciples,  or  defame  his  understanding  or  character. 


200  THE   CHARACTER  OF 


CHAPTER    XI. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  last  parting  with  general  "Washington  at  Mr. 
Adams's  inauguration,  March,  1797 — Washington's  faculties 
impaired — He  had  become  alienated  from  Jefferson — general 
Washington's  powers  of  mind  never  stronger  than  at  the  period 
alluded  to — The  origin,  character,  and  object  of  Jefferson's  Ana 
— Persons  employed  in  collecting  materials  for  the  work — Story 
of  Sir  I.  Temple,  Hamilton,  King  and  Smith — Story  of  governor 
Clinton  and  a  militia  general — Conversation  between  Langdon 
and  Cabot,  reported  by  Lear — Story  from  Baldwin  and  Skinner 
— Jefferson's  account  of  the  convention  of  1787 — Account  not 
entitled  to  credit — The  constitution  made  by  federalists — Op 
posed  by  Jefferson's  republicans— The  account  of  both  conven 
tions  untrue — Not  a  delegate  from  the  eastern  states  at  Annapo 
lis — Assumption  state  debts  part  of  a  system  of  corruption — 
Scheme  Hamilton's,  Washington  ignorant  of  the  plan — Hamil 
ton  a  monarchist — Conversation  at  Jefferson's  dinner  table — 
Conversation  in  August,  1791,  between  Jefferson  and  Hamilton 
about  the  constitution — Hamilton's  opinion  of  it — Practice  of 
noting  down  private  conversations  insidious — Such  evidence  un 
worthy  of  credit — Conversation  between  Jefferson  and  Wash 
ington,  October,  1792 — Jefferson  informed  Washington  that 
Hamilton  was  a  monarchist — Character  of  Hamilton  by  judge 
Marshall — Washington's  letter,  accepting  Hamilton's  resigna 
tion. 

IT  will  be  recollected,  that  in  his  letter  to  Martin  Van 
Buren,  a  large  extract  from  which  has  been  quoted  above, 
Mr.  Jefferson  says,  "  My  last  parting  with  general  Wash 
ington  was  at  the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Adams,  in  March, 
1797,  and  was  warmly  affectionate  ;  and  I  never  had  any 
reason  to  believe  any  change  on  his  part,  as  there  was  cer 
tainly  none  on  mine." 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  201 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  circumstances  in  the  char 
acter  of  Mr.  Jefferson  is,  that  in  the  course  of  his  history, 
sentiments  of  the  most  contradictory  description  will  be 
found  on  almost  all  subjects. 

In  the  introductory  remarks  to  his  "Ana"  which  bear 
date  February  5,  1818,  he  says,  "  From  the  moment  of 
my  retiring  from  the  administration,  the  federalists  got  un 
checked  hold  of  general  Washington.  His  memory  was 
already  sensibly  impaired  by  age,  the  firm  tone  of  mind 
for  which  he  had  been  remarkable,  was  beginning  to  relax, 
its  energy  was  abated,  a  listlessness  of  labor,  a  desire  for 
tranquility  had  crept  on  him,  and  a  willingness  to  let 
others  act,  and  even  think  for  him.  Like  the  rest  of  man 
kind,  he  was  disgusted  with  atrocities  of  the  French  revo 
lution,  and  was  not  sufficiently  aware  of  the  difference  be 
tween  the  rabble  who  were  used  as  instruments  of  their 
perpetration,  and  the  steady  and  rational  character  of  the 
American  people,  in  which  he  had  not  sufficient  confi 
dence.  The  opposition  too  of  the  republicans  to  the  Brit 
ish  treaty,  and  the  zealous  support  of  the  federalists  in 
that  unpopular  but  favorite  measure  of  theirs,  had  made 
him  all  their  own.  Understanding,  moreover,  that  I  dis 
approved  of  that  treaty,  and  copiously  nourished  with 
falsehoods  by  a  malignant  neighbor  of  mine,  who  ambi- 
tioned  to  be  his  correspondent,  he  had  become  alienated 
from  myself  'personally p,  as  from  the  republican  body  gener 
ally  of  his  fellow  citizens ;  and  he  wrote  the  letters  to  Mr. 
Adams  and  Mr.  Carroll,  over  which,  in  devotion  to  his  im 
perishable  fame,  we  must  forever  weep  as  monuments  of 
mortal  decay." 

It  would  be  degrading  to  general  Washington's  reputa 
tion,  to  say  a  word  in  attempting  to  vindicate  it  against 
this  charge  of  mental  decay  and  intellectual  imbecility. 
His  correspondence,  between  the  period  here  alluded  to, 


202  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

and  the  time  of  his  death,  is  before  the  world,  in  which  the 
search  after  proof  of  the  assertion  made  by  Mr.  Jefferson 
on  that  subject  will  be  vain.  The  extraordinary  powers 
of  his  mind  were  never  more  strikingly  displayed  than 
during  the  period  alluded  to.  But  the  passage  above 
quoted  contains  a  direct  and  positive  contradiction  of  the 
declaration  in  the  letter  to  Martin  Van  Buren,  that  he 
never  had  any  reason  to  believe  there  was  any  change  in 
general  Washington's  friendly  feelings  towards  him ;  for 
here  he  expressly  says  he  had  become  alienated  from  him, 
as  well  as  from  the  republican  body  generally.  It  has 
been  shown  from  general  Washington's  own  declarations, 
multiplied  to  a  great  number,  that  he  viewed  the  party 
which  Mr.  Jefferson  called  republican,  in  the  same  light  in 
which  they  were  viewed  by  the  federalists  generally  ;  and 
by  his  own  declaration,  that  he  had  lost  his  confidence  in 
the  head  of  that  party,  Mr.  Jefferson  himself;  or,  in  his 
own  language,  had  become  alienated  from  him. 

Reference  has  been  frequently  made,  in  the  course  of 
this  work,  to  that  portion  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  posthumous 
volumes  which  is  called  ilAna"  It  is  obviously  a  collec 
tion  of  materials  for  history,  and  was  intended  to  establish 
his  own  reputation  in  future  ages  as  a  statesman  and  poli 
tician,  and  particularly  as  the  great  republican  friend  and 
benefactor  of  his  country,  who,  by  his  persevering  and  dis 
interested  zeal  and  patriotic  devotion  to  its  highest  inter 
ests,  preserved  its  republican  constitution  and  prevented 
the  introduction  of  a  monarchical  government  in  its  stead. 
This  collection  he  made  the  depository  of  a  large  portion 
of  his  slanders  upon  the  federalists  as  a  body,  and  particu 
larly  upon  Alexander  Hamilton,  as  one  of  the  most  able 
and  distinguished  individuals  in  their  number.  It  will  be 
observed,  that  all  the  entries  in  the  " Ana  "  were  made  by 
himself;  but  the  materials  of  which  they  are  composed, 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  203 

are  said  to  have  been  derived  from  many  different  sources. 
A  man  like  him,  when  possessed  of  the  means  of  paying 
for  such  services,  will  always  have  persons  enough  about 
him  of  a  suitable  character  and  a  proper  disposition  to 
perform  the  services  which  his  pursuits  and  objects  might 
require;  and  it  appears  that  he  was  abundantly  furnished 
with  agents  of  this  description. 

One  of  the  persons  who  appears  to  have  been  thus  em 
ployed  by  him  in  this  degrading 'service,  was  John  Beck- 
ley,  who  for  a  number  of  years  was  clerk  of  the  house  of 
representatives  of  the  United  States.  That  he  was  well 
fitted  for  the  business,  is  manifest  from  the  fruits  of  his 
labors,  as  they  were  from  time  to  time  reported  to  his  prin 
cipal.  In  the  4S5th  page  of  the  4th  volume  of  Jefferson's 
Works,  is  the  following  statement : — 

"  June  the  7th,  1793.  Mr.  Beckley,  who  has  returned 
from  New-York  within  a  few  days,  tells  me  that  while  he 
was  there,  sir  John  Temple,  consul-general  of  the  northern 
states  for  Great  Britain,  showed  him  a  letter  from  sir 
Gregory  Page  Turner,  a  member  of  parliament  for  a 
borough  in  Yorkshire,  who,  he  said,  had  been  a  member 
for  twenty-five  years,  and  always  confidential  for  the  min 
isters,  in  which  he  permitted  him  to  read  particular  passa 
ges  of  the  following  purport:  'that  the  government  was 
well  apprized  of  the  predominancy  of  the  British  interest  in 
the  United  States;  that  they  considered  colonel  Hamilton, 
Mr.  King,  and  Mr.  W.  Smith  of  South  Carolina,  as  the 
main  supports  of  that  interest ;  that  particularly  they  con 
sidered  colonel  Hamilton,  and  not  Mr.  Hammond,  as  their 
effective  minister  here  ;  that  if  the  anti-federal  interest, 
(that  was  his  term)  at  the  head  of  which  they  considered 
Mr.  Jefferson  to  be,  should  prevail,  these  gentlemen  had 
secured  an  asylum  to  themselves  in  England.'  Beckley 
could  not  understand  whether  they  had  secured  it  them- 


204  THE    CHARACTER   OF 

selves,  or  whether  they  were  only  notified  that  it  was  se 
cured  to  them.  So  that  they  understand  that  they  may 
go  on  boldly  in  their  machinations  to  change  the  govern 
ment,  and  if  they  should  be  overset,  and  choose  to  with 
draw,  they  will  be  secure  of  a  pension  in  England,  as 
Arnold,  Deane,  &c.  had.  Sir  John  read  passages  of  a 
letter  (which  he  did  not  put  into  Beckley's  hand,  as  he  did 
the  other)  from  lord  Grenville,  saying  nearly  the  same 
things." 

This  ridiculous  story  was  too  absurd  even  for  Mr.  Jeffer 
son  to  swallow  entire,  for  it  is  said  in  a  note  at  the  word 
themselves,  that  it  was  written  in  the  margin  (of  the  man 
uscript  it  is  presumed)  that  it  was  "Impossible  as  to  Ham 
ilton  ;  he  was  far  above  that ;  " — leaving  it  to  be  consider 
ed  as  a  matter  of  fact,  as-  far  as  his  opinion  went,  that  the 
charge  against  the  other  persons  named,  one  of  whom  cer 
tainly  was,  and  it  is  believed  the  other  was,  as  little  liable 
to  such  an  imputation  as  was  general  Hamilton,  was  true. 
And  yet,  Mr.  Jefferson  left  this  entry  on  his  "Ana''  and 
placed  it  among  his  archives,  for  publication  after  his 
death. 

Under  the  same  date  with  the  foregoing  is  the  follow 
ing — «  Beckley  tells  me  that  he  has  the  following  fact  from 
governor  Clinton.  That  before  the  proposition  for  the 
present  general  government,  i.  e.  a  little  before  Hamilton 
conceived  a  plan  for  establishing  a  monarchical  govern 
ment  in  the  United  States,  he  wrote  a  draft  of  a  circular 

letter,  which  was  sent  to  about persons,  to  bring  it 

about.  One  of  these  letters,  in  Hamilton's  hand-writing, 
is  now"  in  possession  of  an  old  militia  general  up  the  North 
river,  who  at  that  time  was  thought  orthodox  enough  to  be 
entrusted  in  the  execution.  This  general  has  given  notice 
to  governor  Clinton,  that  he  has  this  paper,  and  that  he 
will  deliver  it  into  his  hands,  and  no  one's  else.  Clinton 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  205 

intends,  the  first  interval  of  leisure,  to  go  for  it,  and  he  will 
bring  it  to  Philadelphia.  Beckley  is  a  man  of  perfect 
truth,  as  to  what  he  affirms  of  his  own  knowledge,  but  too 
credulous  as  to  what  he  hears  from  others." 

As  this  is  all  that  ever  was  heard  from  this  very  impor 
tant  document,  and  as  it  came  to  Beckley's  knowledge  by 
hearsay  only,  it  is  reasonable  to  conclude,  that  he  was  un 
der  the  influence  of  too  great  credulity  when  he  reported 
it  to  Mr.  Jefferson — for  there  is  no  room  to  doubt  that  the 
whole  is  a  fabrication. 

There  is  in  this  extraordinary  collection  of  gossiping  scan 
dal,  a  still  further  article  from  this  same  Mr.  Beckley: — 

"December  the  1st,  1793"— just  before  Mr.  Jeffer 
son  resigned  the  office  of  secretary  of  state — "  Beckley 
tells  me  he  had  the  following  fact  from  Lear.  Langdon, 
Cabot,  and  some  others  of  the  senate,  standing  in  a  knot 
before  the  fire  after  the  senate  had  adjourned,  and  growl 
ing  together  about  some  measure  which  they  had  just  lost ; 
*  Ah ! '  said  Cabot,  '  things  will  never  go  right  until  you 
have  a  president  for  life,  and  an  hereditary  senate.  Lang 
don  told  this  to  Lear,  who  seemed  struck  with  it,  and 
declared  he  had  not  supposed  there  was  a  man  in  the 
United  States  who  could  have  entertained  such  an  idea." 

There  are  strong  reasons  for  believing  that  this,  as  well 
as  many  other  tales  recorded  in  these  "Ana"  is  a  sheer 
fabrication.  Men  whose  occupation  is  tale-bearing,  are 
very  rarely  worthy  of  credit.  Mr.  Jefferson  himself,  as 
has  been  seen,  declares  Beckley  to  have  been  too  credu 
lous  as  to  what  he  hears  from  others ;  and  his  associate  in 
this  transaction  has  been  considered  by  many  persons  as 
worse  than  credulous.  Mr.  Cabot  was  thoroughly  ac 
quainted  with  the  human  character,  and  as  little  likely  to 
expose  himself  to  the  enmity  of  those  around  him  as  any 
man  who  ever  lived.  Mr.  Langdon  and  he  were  diamet- 
18 


206  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

rically  opposed  in  politics — Mr.  Cabot  being  a  federalist, 
and  Mr.  Langdon  a  thorough  Jeffersonian  democrat.  It  is 
not  to  be  believed,  certainly  without  more  creditable  testi 
mony  than  that  of  either  Beckley  or  Lear,  that  he  would 
place  himself  in  the  power  of  those  who  he  must  have 
known  would  watch  every  word  he  uttered,  and  if,  in  an  un 
guarded  moment,  he  should  so  far  forget  himself  as  to  make 
use  of  a  single  expression  that  could  be  made  a  handle  of  to 
prejudice  him  in  the  minds  of  his  countrymen,  the  oppor 
tunity  would  not  be  lost  or  neglected.  And  when  we  find 
in  Mr.  Jefferson's  "  memorandums,"  charges  of  a  similar 
character  with  this  against  almost  every  distinguished  fed 
eralist,  it  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  resist  the  conclu 
sion,  that  the  whole  have  been  made  up  to  answer  the  pur 
pose  he  'had  in  view.  That  purpose,  if  an  opinion  is  to 
be  formed  from  the  nature  of  the  materials  which  are  con 
tained  in  his  works,  and  a  regard  is  had  to  the  time  when 
they  were  professedly  scraped  together,  was  undoubtedly 
to  subserve  his  personal  ambition.  If  they  were  kept 
concealed  in  his  own  bureau  until  the  time  of  his  death, 
and  never  brought  into  light,  then  his  object  was,  according 
to  his  own  declaration,  to  correct  the  only  historical  work  of 
the  period,  viz.,  the  life  of  Washington  by  judge  Marshall. 

But  after  reading  the  following  extract  from  the  "Ana," 
Mr.  Jefferson's  claim  to  credit  as  a  witness,  will  be  more 
easily  estimated — 

"January  the  5th,  179S.  I  receive  a  very  remarkable 
fact  indeed,  in  our  history,  from  Baldwin  and  Skinner. 
Before  the  establishment  of  our  present  government,  a 
very  extensive  combination  had  taken  place  in  New  York 
and  the  eastern  states,  among  that  description  of  people 
who  were  partly  monarchical  in  principle,  or  frightened 
with  Shays's  rebellion  and  the  impotence  of  the  old  con 
gress.  Delegates  in  different  places  had  actually  had  con- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  207 

saltations  on  the  subject  of  seizing  on  the  powers  of  a  gov 
ernment,  and  establishing  them  by  force ;  had  correspond 
ed  with  one  another,  and  had  sent  a  deputy  to  general 
Washington  to  solicit  his  co-operation.  He  refused  to 
join  them.  The  new  convention  was  in  the  mean  time 
proposed  by  Virginia  and  appointed.  These  people  be 
lieved  it  impossible  the  states  should  ever  agree  on  a  gov 
ernment,  as  this  must  include  the  impost  and  all  the 
other  powers  which  the  states  had,  a  thousand  times,  re 
fused- to  the  general  authority.  They  therefore  let  the 
proposed  convention  go  on,  not  doubting  its  failure,  and 
confiding  that  on  its  failure  would  be  a  still  more  favora 
ble  moment  for  their  enterprize.  They  therefore  wished 
it  to  fail,  and  especially  when  Hamilton,  their  leader, 
brought  forward  his  plan  of  government,  failed  entirely  in 
carrying  it,  and  retired  in  disgust  from  the  convention. 
His  associates  then  took  every  method  to  prevent  any  form 
of  government  being  agreed  to.  But  the  well  intentioned 
never  ceased  trying,  first  one  thing,  and  then  another,  until 
they  could  get  something  agreed  to.  The  final  passage  and 
adoption  of  the  constitution  completely  defeated  the  views 
of  the  combination,  and  saved  us  from  an  attempt  to  estab 
lish  a  government  over  us  by  force.  This  fact  throws  a 
blaze  of  light  on  the  conduct  of  several  members  from  New 
York  and  the  eastern  states  in  the  convention  of  Annapo 
lis,  and  the  grand  convention.  At  that  of  Annapolis,  sev 
eral  eastern  members  most  vehemently  opposed  Madison's 
proposition  for  a  more  general  convention,  with  more  gen 
eral  powers.  They  wished  things  to  get  more  and  more 
into  confusion,  to  justify  the  violent  measure  they  pro 
posed.  The  idea  of  establishing  a  government  by  reason 
and  agreement,  they  publicly  ridiculed  as  an  Utopian  pro 
ject,  visionary  and  unexampled." 

It  is  very  much  doubted  whether  any  intelligent  com- 


208  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

munity  were  ever  called  upon  to  believe  a  more  incredible, 
or  a  more  extravagant  story  than  this.  It  is  presumed 
that  the  Mr.  Baldwin  here  mentioned  was  Abraham  Bald 
win,  for  many  years  a  senator  in  congress  from  the  state  of 
Georgia.  This  gentleman  was  a  native  of  Connecticut, 
but  removed  to  Georgia  soon  after  the  peace  of  1783,  and 
was  a  member  of  the  convention  which  formed  the  consti 
tution  of  the  United  States,  and  one  of  those  who  signed 
it.  Mr.  Skinner,  was  probably  Thompson  J.  Skinner,  for 
a  while  member  of  congress  from  the  state  of  Massachu 
setts.  Both  of  them  were  warm  democrats  in  politics,  and 
the  devoted  friends  of  Mr.  Jefferson.  Whether  any  part 
of  this  story,  and  if'  so,  how  much  of  it,  came  from  them 
to  Mr.  Jefferson,  probably  can  never  be  known,  as  they 
have  both  for  a  long  time  been  dead.  But  that  two  such 
individuals,  living  at  such  a  remote  distance  from  each 
other,  should  have  become  so  intimately  acquainted  with 
the  political  plans  and  movements  of  those  from  whom 
they  totally  differed  in  principles  and  in  measures,  is,  to 
say  the  least,  very  extraordinary.  But  not  more  extraor 
dinary  than  the  story  itself.  Here  it  is  stated,  that  an  ex 
tensive  combination  had  been  formed  of  those  who  after 
wards  appeared  as  federalists,  under  general  Hamilton  as 
their  leader,  for  a  purpose  treasonable  against  the  people 
of  the  United  States — for  government  they  had  none — to 
seize  on  the  powers  of  a  government  by  force,  and  that 
they  had  the  assurance  to  request  general  Washington  to 
join  them  in  their  absurd,  as  well  as  treasonable  and  despe 
rate  enterprise ;  which  he,  however,  refused.  That  when 
the  convention  of  1787  was  called,  they  were  so  confident 
that  no  plan  of  a  government  would  be  agreed  upon,  that 
"  they  let  the  proposed  convention  go  o?i"  not  doubt 
ing  its  failure,  and  thinking  that  after  its  failure,  they 
would  have  a  favorable  opportunity  to  carry  their  project 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  209 

into  effect ;  which  was  to  establish  a  government  by  force ; 
that  those  who  had  good  intentions  in  the  convention,  un 
doubtedly  aware  of  the  designs  of  these  persons,  tried  one 
thing  after  another,  until  the  constitution  was  approved  by 
the  convention  ;  which  defeated  the  combination,  and  saved 
the  country  from  an  attempt  to  establish  over  it  a  govern 
ment  by  force.  Some  important  facts,  which  Mr.  Jefferson, 
in  his  eager  anxiety  to  render  the  federalists  odious,  seems 
to  have  lost  sight  of,  should  be  recalled  to  mind. 

A  great  majority  of  the  men  who  made  the  constitution, 
were  federalists.  The  men  who  opposed  it  in  all  its  stages 
in  the  convention,  and  who  eventually  withheld  their  sig 
natures  from  it,  and  those  who  afterwards  opposed  its 
adoption  in  the  conventions  of  the  states,  were  persons 
who  were  afterwards  called  republicans  of  Mr.  Jefferson's 
school  and  party.  Among  them,  in  the  convention,  were 
James  Monroe,  of  Virginia,  afterwards  president  of  the 
United  States,  Elbridge  Gerry,  of  Massachusetts,  after 
wards  vice  president  of  the  United  States,  Robert  Yates 
and  John  Lansing,  jun.,  of  the  state  of  New  York.  These 
were  all  Jeffersonian  republicans ;  and  in  their  several  states, 
exerted  themselves  to  the  utmost  of  their  abilities,  to  pre 
vent  the  adoption  of  the  constitution.  But  Alexander 
Hamilton,  who  Mr.  Jefferson  so  often  declares  was  a  mon 
archist  of  the  most  dangerous  description,  and  Rufus  King, 
two  of  the  three  individuals  who  are  said,  in  sir  John 
Temple's  letter  from  sir  Gregory  Page  Turner,  to  have  se 
cured  themselves  an  asylum  in  England,  in  the  event  of 
the  anti-federal  interest  prevailing,  actually  signed  the  con 
stitution,  and  in  the  conventions  in  their  respective  states, 
were  among  the  most  active  and  influential  members  in 
procuring  its  adoption.  These  men,  and  their  federal 
friends,  are  those  who  are  here  described  as  having,  under 
the  belief  that  no  constitution  could  be  agreed  upon,  "let 
18* 


210  THE    CHARACTER    OF. 

the  convention  go  on"  flattering  themselves  that  their  pro 
ceedings  would  terminate  in  nothing,  that  the  country 
would  be  plunged  into  a  state  of  anarchy,  and  that  out  of 
it  they  should  secure  their  favorite  object,  viz.,  a  monarchy. 

But  it  proved,  notwithstanding  the  sanguineness  of  their 
expectations  and  calculations,  that  these  desperate  and  de 
termined  monarchists,  by  persevering  exertions,  by  com 
promises  and  concessions,  by  demanding  little  and  yield 
ing  much,  did,  at  length,  in  spite  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  friends, 
frame  a  constitution  which  was  agreed  to  by  a  large  ma 
jority  of  the  convention,  and  afterwards  adopted  by  the 
people,  comprising  nearly  every  federal  member  who  was 
present.  And  this  is  what  he  calls  saving  2is  from  an  at 
tempt  to  establish  over  us  a  government  by  force.  The 
man  who  can  believe,  at  this  late  period,  Mr.  Jefferson's 
history  of  the  matter,  is  in  no  danger  of  being  stigmatized 
as  a  political  infidel. 

There  is  some  part  of  this  account,  however,  which 
shows  in  the  clearest  manner,  how  little  entitled  to  credit 
Mr.  Jefferson's  testimony  is,  especially  in  a  case  where  his 
passions  and  his  interest  operated  in  biasing  his  mind  and 
his  feelings.  Alluding  to  the  fact  of  the  convention  hav 
ing  agreed  to  the  constitution,  and  of  its  effects  upon  the 
country,  in  saving  us  from  the  establishment  over  it  of  a 
government  by  force,  he  says — "  This  fact  throws  a  blaze 
of  light  on  the  conduct  of  several  members  from  New 
York  and  tiie  eastern  states  in  the  convention  of  Annapolis, 
and  the  grand  convention.  At  that  of  Annapolis,  several 
eastern  members  most  vehemently  opposed  Madison's  prop 
osition  for  a  more  general  convention,  with  more  general 
powers.  They  wished  to  get  things  more  and  more  into 
confusion,  to  justify  the  violent  measure  they  proposed." 

This  statement  is  made  in  so  circumstantial  a  manner, 
that  it  is  apparent  that  Mr.  Jefferson  intended  the  world 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  211 

should  have  no  doubt  that  he  believed  it  to  be  true.  As 
the  knowledge  of  the  things  alleged  as  having  taken  place 
at  both  conventions,  and  particularly  that  of  Annapo 
lis,  if  they  ever  occurred,  must  have  been  known  to  his 
most  intimate  and  confidential  friend  Mr.  Madison,  who 
was  a  member  of  both,  it  would  naturally  be  concluded 
that  the  information  was  derived  from  him.  Mr.  Madison, 
upon  finding  that  the  proposed  convention  at  Annapolis 
had  failed,  for  the  want  of  delegations  from  a  majority  of 
the  states,  is  said  to  have  made  the  proposition  for  another 
convention ;  of  course  he  must  have  been  well  acquainted 
with  everything  that  occurred  in  the  meeting  at  Annapolis. 
The  means  of  ascertaining  what  took  place  on  that  occa 
sion  were  therefore  at  Mr.  Jefferson's  command,  who 
might  have  inquired  of  his  friend  almost  any  day  after  his 
return  from  his  foreign  mission.  Now,  it  is  peculiarly  un 
fortunate  for  him,  that  he  should  sacrifice  his  character  for 
veracity  in  such  a  case  as  this,  where  the  history  of  the 
country  would  convict  him  of  deliberately  recording  a 
falsehood,  in  his  own  private  register  of  events,  for  the  use 
of  the  future  historian  of  the  times ;  especially,  as  one  ob 
ject  which  he  professes  to  have  had  in  view  was,  to  pro 
vide  materials  for  the  correction  of  judge  Marshall's  Life 
of  Washington. 

The  fact  is,  and  was  perfectly  known  at  the  time  to  the 
country  at  large,  and  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  Mr.  Jef 
ferson  could  have  been  ignorant  of  what  was  so  notorious, 
that  there  was  not  a  single  delegate  from  any  of  the  east 
ern  states,  that  is  the  New  England  states,  at  the  Annapo 
lis  convention.  Of  course,  the  whole  story  about  the 
members  from  the  eastern  states,  being  opposed  to  Madi 
son's  proposition  for  a  second  convention,  and  in  favor  of 
a  monarchical  system,  is  untrue ;  and  was  undoubtedly 
fabricated  for  the  purpose  of  casting  upon  them  the  re- 


212  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

proach  of  having  wished  to  introduce  a  monarchical  gov 
ernment  into  the  United  States.  No  man  whatever  his 
station  in  life  or  his  character  might  previously  have  been, 
who  should  deliberately  testify  before  a  court  and  jury,  to 
such  an  unfounded  story  as  this,  would  be  entitled  to  the 
least  degree  of  credit. 

'After  giving  an  account  in  his  "Ana"  of  the  adoption 
of  the  measure  for  assuming  the  state  debts,  and  consid 
ering  it  as  an  important  part  of  the  grand  system  of  cor 
ruption  devised  by  general  Hamilton  for  that  great  object, 
Mr.  Jefferson  says, — 

"  I  know  well,  and  so  must  be  understood,  that  nothing 
like  a  majority  in  congress  had  yielded  to  this  corruption. 
Far  from  it.  But  a  division,  not  very  unequal,  had  al 
ready  taken  place  in  the  honest  part  of  that  body  between 
the  parties  styled  republican  and  federal.  The  latter, 
being  monarchists  in  principle,  adhered  to  Hamilton,  of 
course,  as  their  leader  in  that  principle ;  and  this  merce 
nary  phalanx  added  to  them  insured  him  always  a  ma 
jority  in  both  houses,  so  that  the  whole  action  of  the  legis 
lature  was  now  under  the  direction  of  the  treasury.  Still 
the  machine  was  not  complete.  The  effect  of  the  funding 
system  and  of  the  assumption  would  be  temporary ;  it 
would  be  lost  with  the  -loss  of  the  individual  members 
whom  it  had  enriched,  and  some  engine  of  influence  more 
permanent  must  be  contrived  while  these  myrmidons  were 
yet  in  place  to  carry  it  through  all  opposition.  This  en 
gine  was  the  bank  of  the  United  States.  All  that  history 
is  known,  so  I  shall  say  nothing  about  it.  While  the 
government  remained  at  Philadelphia  a  selection  of  mem 
bers  of  both  houses  were  constantly  kept  as  directors  who, 
on  every  question  interesting  to  that  institution  or  to  the 
views  of  the  federal  head,  voted  at  the  will  of  that  head; 
and,  together  with  the  stockholding  members,  could  al- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  213 

ways  make  the  federal  vote  that  of  the  majority.  By  this 
combination  legislative  expositions  were  given  to  the  con 
stitution,  and  all  the  administrative  laws  were  shaped  on, 
the  model  of  England,  and  so  passed.  And  from  this  in 
fluence  we  were  not  relieved  until  the  removal  from  the 
precincts  of  the  bank  to  Washington. 

"  Here,  then,  was  the  real  ground  of  the  opposition 
which  was  made  to  the  course  of  administration.  Its  ob 
ject  was  to  preserve  the  legislature  pure  and  independent 
of  the  executive,  to  restrain  the  administration  to  republi 
can  forms  and  principles,  and  not  permit  the  constitution 
to  be  construed  into  a  monarchy  and  to  be  warped  in 
practice  into  all  the  principles  and  pollutions  of  their  fa 
vorite  English  model." 

Mr.  Jefferson  acquits  general  Washington  of  having 
such  propensities.  He  says,  "  He  was  true  to  the  repub 
lican  charge  confided  to  him."  But  he  adds,  "  he  was 
not  aware  of  the  drift  or  of  the  effect  of  Hamilton's 
schemes.  Unversed  in  financial  projects  and  calculations 
and  budgets,  his  approbation  of  them  was  bottomed  on  his 
confidence  in  the  man." 

At  the  moment  when  Mr.  Jefferson  is  representing 
general  Washington  as  placing  this  confidence  in  general 
Hamilton,  he  says  that  general  Washington  was  acquaint 
ed  with  his  (Mr.  Jefferson's)  suspicions  of  Hamilton's  de 
signs.  Now,  as  general  Washington  had  been  far  more 
thoroughly  acquainted,  both  in  war  and  peace,  with  gene 
ral  Hamilton  than  Mr.  Jefferson  could  have  been,  the  cir 
cumstance  that  those  suspicions  had  no  effect  in  destroying 
general  Washington's  confidence  in  him,  was  the  strong 
est  evidence  in  favor  of  the  talents  and  integrity  of  gene 
ral  Hamilton,  and  might  have  been  viewed  and  felt  by 
Mr.  Jefferson  as  a  severe  reproof  for  his  unfounded  and 
injurious  estimate  of  general  Hamilton's  character. 


214  THE  CHARACTER  OF 

But  Mr.  Jefferson,  not  discouraged  or  disheartened  in 
the  prosecution  of  his  plan,  proceeds  to  charge  general 
Hamilton,  in  a  more  direct  and  peremptory  manner,  with 
entertaining  monarchical  sentiments,  and  those  of  the 
worst  and  most  disreputable  kind.  The  following  is  an 
extract  from  vol.  4,  p.  450  of  his  works  ("Ana.") 

"But  Hamilton  was  not  only  a  monarchist  but  for  a 
monarchy  bottomed  on  corruption.  In  proof  of  this  I  will 
relate  an  anecdote,  for  the  truth  of  which  I  attest  the  God 
who  made  me.  Before  the  president  set  out  on  his  south 
ern  tour  in  April,  1791,  he  addressed  a  letter  of  the  fourth 
of  that  month  from  Mount  Vernon  to  the  secretaries  of 
state,  treasury  and  war,  desiring  that  if  any  serious  and 
important  cases  should  arise  during  his  absence,  they 
would  consult  and  act  on  them.  And  he  requested  that 
the  vice-president  should  also  be  consulted.  This  was 
the  only  occasion  on  which  that  officer  was  ever  requested 
to  take  a  part  in  a  cabinet  question.  Some  occasion  for 
consultation  arising,  I  invited  those  gentlemen  (and  the 
attorney-general  as  well  as  I  remember)  to  dine  with  me, 
in  order  to  confer  on  the  subject.  After  the  cloth  was  re 
moved  and  our  question  agreed  and  dismissed,  conversa 
tion  began  on  other  matters,  and  by  some  circumstance 
was  led  to  the  British  constitution,  on  which  Mr.  Adams 
ohserved,  *  Purge  that  constitution  of  its  corruption,  and 
give  to  its  popular  branch  equality  of  representation,  and 
it  would  be  the  most  perfect  constitution  ever  devised  by 
the  wit  of  man.'  Hamilton  paused  and  said, 'Purge  it 
of  its  corruption,  and  give  to  its  popular  branch  equality 
of  representation,  and  it  would  become  an  impracticable 
government;  as  it  stands  at  present,  with  all  its  supposed 
defects,  it  is  the  most  perfect  government  which  ever 
existed.'  And  this  was  assuredly  the  exact  line  which 
separated  the  political  creeds  of  "these  two  gentlemen. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  215 

The  one  was  for  two  hereditary  branches  and  an  honest 
elective  one,  the  other  for  an  hereditary  king  with  a  house 
of  lords  and  commons  corrupted  to  his  will,  and  standing 
between  him  and  the  people.  Hamilton  was,  indeed,  a 
singular  character.  Of  acute  understanding,  disinterest 
ed,  honest  and  honorable  in  all  private  transactions,  amia 
ble  in  society  and  duly  valuing  virtue  in  private  life,  yet 
so  bewitched  und  perverted  by  the  British  example  as  to 
be  under  thorough  conviction  that  corruption  was  essen 
tial  to  the  government  of  a  nation.  Mr.  Adams  had  origi 
nally  been  a  republican.  The  glare  of  royally  and  no 
bility  during  his  mission  to  England  had  made  him  be 
lieve  their  fascination  a  necessary  ingredient  in  govern 
ment;  and  Shays's  rebellion,  not  sufficiently  understood 
where  he  then  was,  seemed  to  prove  that  the  absence  of 
want  and  oppression  was  not  a  sufficient  guaranty  of  or 
der.  His  book  on  the  American  constitution  having  made 
known  his  political  bias  he  was  taken  up  by  the  monarch 
ical  federalists  in  his  absence,  and  on  his  return  to  the 
United  Slates  he  was  by  them  made  to  believe  that  the 
general  dispositions  of  our  citizens  was  favorable  to  mon 
archy." 

This  story  is  told  in  a  manner  rather  more  concise  in  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Jefferson  to  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  dated 
January  16,  1811,  and  published  in  the  4ih  volume  of  his 
works,  page  154. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  only  account  of  this  ex 
traordinary  conversation  is  derived  from  Mr.  Jefferson. 
There  were,  by  his  statement,  present  on  this  memorable 
occasion  vice-president  Adams,  Mr.  Jefferson,  secretary  of 
state,  general  Hamilton,  secretary  of  the  treasury,  general 
Knox,  secretary  of  war,  and  Edmund  Randolph,  attorney 
general.  It  is  scarcely  possible,  if  such  sentiments  were 
uttered  by  two  such  high  and  distinguished  officers  of  the 


216 


THE    CHARACTER    OF 


government,  in  the  presence  of  so  many  others,  that  the 
fact  should  not,  in  some  form  or  other,  have  been  disclosed 
to  the  public.  Mr.  Jefferson,  at  whose  table  it  was  uttered, 
by  his  own  account  does  not  appear  to  have  been  back 
ward  in  expressing  his  opinions  and  sentiments  respecting 
general  Hamilton.  And  yet,  in  this  memorable  instance, 
where  the  opportunity  was  a  peculiarly  favorable  one  for 
the  objects  he  obviously  had  in  view  in  vilifying  general 
Hamilton  as  one  of  the  most  distinguished  individuals 
among  the  federalists,  and  especially  as  one  of  general 
Washington's  cabinet,  if  any  reliance  may  be  placed  upon 
his  dates,  he  first  communicated  an  account  of  this  conver 
sation  to  a  private  correspondent  more  than  six  years 
after  general  Hamilton's  death,  and  recorded  it  in  his 
"Ana"  nearly  fourteen  years  after  that  event.  These 
things  could  not  have  been  done  at  the  time  when,  if  they 
ever  occurred,  they  were  done,  with  any  expectation  of 
saving  the  country  from  the  evils  of  general  Hamilton's 
monarchical  propensities  or  plots,  as  he  had  left  the  gov 
ernment  ten  years  before  his  death,  and  had  been  in  his 
grave  twenty-four  years  before  the  date  of  Mr.  Jefferson's 
"Ana."  They  must  have  been  made  from  mere  hatred 
of  general  Hamilton's  name  and  reputation,  or,  what  is 
perhaps  equally  probable,  to  take  off  the  force  of  judge 
Marshall's  testimony  in  favor  of  general  Hamilton's  great 
talents  and  services  in  his  Life  of  Washington. 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  not  satisfied  to  leave  the  matter  as  it 
stood  in  his  letter  to  Dr.  Rush,  and  in  the  introduction  to 
his  "Ana."  By  pursuing  the  course  of  that  article,  the 
following  passage  will  be  found — 

"  August  the  13th,  1791.  Notes  of  conversation  be 
tween  Alexander  Hamilton  and  Thomas  Jefferson.  Thom 
as  Jefferson  mentioned  to  him  a  letter  received  from  John 
Adams,  disavowing  Publicola,  and  denying  that  he  ever 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  217 

entertained  a  wish  to  bring  this  country  under  an  heredi 
tary  executive,  or  introduce  an  hereditary  branch  of  legis 
lature,  &c.  (See  his  letter.)  Alexander  Hamilton,  con 
demning  Mr.  Adams's  writings,  and  most  particularly 
Davila,  as  having  a  tendency  to  weaken  the  present  gov 
ernment,  declared  in  substance  as  follows :  '  I  own  it  is 
my  own  opinion,  though  I  do  not  publish  it  in  Dan  or 
Beersheba,  that  the  present  government  is  not  that  which 
will  answer  the  ends  of  society  by  giving  stability  and  pro 
tection  to  its  rights,  and  that  it  will  probably  be  found  ex 
pedient  to  go  into  the  British  form.  However,  since  we 
have  undertaken  the  experiment,  I  am  for  giving  it  a  fair 
course,  whatever  my  expectations  may  be.  The  success, 
indeed,  so  far,  is  greater  tkan  I  had  expected,  and  there 
fore,  at  present,  success  seems  more  possible  than  it  had 
done  heretofore,  and  there  are  still  other  and  other  stages 
of  improvement,  which,  if  the  present  does  not  succeed, 
may  be  tried,  and  ought  to  be  tried,  before  we  give  up  the 
republican  form  altogether ;  for  that  mind  must  be  really 
depraved,  which  could  not  prefer  the  equality  of  political 
rights,  which  is  the  foundation  of  pure  republicanism,  if  it 
can  be  obtained  consistently  with  order.  Therefore,  who 
ever  by  his  writings  disturbs  the  present  order  of  things, 
is  really  blameable,  however  pure  his  intentions  may  be, 
and  he  was  sure  Mr.  Adams's  were  pure.'  This  is  the 
substance  of  a  declaration  made  in  much  more  lengthy 
terms,  and  which  seemed  to  be  more  formal  than  usual  for 
a  private  conversation  between  two,  and  as  if  intended  to 
qualify  some  less  guarded  expressions  which  had  been 
dropped  on  former  occasions.  Thomas  Jefferson  has  com 
mitted  it  to  writing  in  the  moment  of  Alexander  Hamil 
ton's  leaving  the  room." 

No  frank,  open-hearted,  sincere  man,  ever  made  a  prac 
tice  of  noting  down  private  conversations  between  himself 
19 


218  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

and  those  with  whom  he  was  accustomed  to  associate, 
either  for  the  purposes  of  business  or  the  intercourse  of 
friendship.  Whoever  does  it,  must  be  actuated  by  some 
secret,  sinister,  and  insidious  design  of  using  it  at  some 
future  time,  either  for  his  own  benefit  or  the  injury  of  his 
companion.  This  is  a  striking  instance  to  prove  the  jus 
tice  of  these  remarks.  This  conversation  is  alleged  to 
have  taken  place  in  1791,  and  was  kept  on  hand  until  both 
the  parties  were  dead,  and  never  promulgated  until  nearly 
thirty  years  after  it  occurred,  when  it  was  left  to  be  pub 
lished  with  the  other  posthumous  works  of  the  author. 
The  testimony  of  such  a  witness,  under  such  circumstances, 
is  entirely  unworthy  of  credit,  under  whatever  form  it  ap 
pears,  and  before  whatever  tribunal  it  is  adduced. 

But  admitting  that  it  is  entitled  to  any  consideration, 
what,  upon  the  face  of  it,  is  its  import  ?  Nothing  more 
than  this — that  within  the  two  first  years  of  the  existence 
of  the  new  government,  before  any  fair  experiment  had 
been  tried  of  its  efficacy,  and  when  the  party  of  which  Mr. 
Jefferson  was  the  secret  but  actual  leader,  were  exerting 
themselves  in  every  possible  way  to  obstruct,  embarrass, 
and  defeat  the  measures  of  the  administration,  the  man 
who,  of  all  others,  had  exerted,  and  was  exerting  his  great 
talents  to  carry  it  on  prosperously,  was  doubtful  of  the  is 
sue,  and  expressed  his  fears  for  the  result.  At  the  same 
time,  aware  that  if  the  experiment  failed  and  the  govern 
ment  should  fall  before  its  opposers,  the  next  experiment 
would  necessarily  be  of  a  more  energetic  system, — that 
before  the  present  government  was  abandoned,  every  effort 
should  be  made  to  carry  it  into  effect,  and  those  would  be 
to  blame  (probably  general  Hamilton,  if  he  said  anything 
about  it,  made  use  of  a  much  stronger  expression,)  who 
should  disturb  the  existing  order  of  things. 

Under  the  date  of  October   1,  1792,  after  giving  an  ac- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  219 

count  of  a  conversation  with  general  Washington,  relating 
to  his  (Mr.  Jefferson's)  determination  to  leave  his  office, 
which  led  to  the  subject  of  general  Washington's  declin 
ing  a  second  election  ;  among  other  arguments  urged  to 
dissuade  Mr.  Jefferson  from  resigning,  he  states  that  the 
president  said — "  That  he  thought  it  important  to  preserve 
the  check  of  my  opinions  in  the  administration,  in  order 
to  keep  things  in  their  proper  channel,  and  prevent  them 
from  going  too  far.  That  as  to  the  idea  of  transforming  this 
government  into  a  monarchy,  he  did  not  believe  there  were 
ten  men  in  the  United  States  whose  opinions  were  worth 
attention,  who  entertained  such  a  thought.  I  told  him 
there  were  many  more  than  he  imagined.  I  recalled  to 
his  memory  a  dispute  at  his  own  table,  a  little  before  we 
left  Philadelphia,  between  general  Schuyler  on  one  side 
and  Pinckney  and  myself  on  the  other,  wherein  the  former 
maintained  the  position  that  hereditary  descent  was  as 
likely  to  produce  good  magistrates  as  election.  I  told  him 
that  though  the  people  were  sound,  there  were  a  numerous 
sect  who  had  monarchy  in  contemplation  ;  that  the  secre 
tary  of  the  treasury  was  one  of  these.  That  I  had  heard 
him  say  that  this  constitution  was  a  shilly-shally  thing,  of 
mere  milk  and  water,  which  could  not  last,  and  was  only 
good  as  a  step  to  something  better.  That  when  we  re 
flected,  that  he  had  endeavored  in  the  convention  to  make 
an  English  constitution  of  it,  and  when  failing  in  that,  we 
saw  all  his  measures  tending  to  bring  it  to  the  same  thing, 
it  was  natural  for  us  to  be  jealous  ;  and  particularly,  when 
we  saw  that  these  measures  had  established  corruption  in 
the  legislature,  where  there  was  a  squadron  devoted  to  the 
nod  of  the  treasury,  doing  whatever  he  had  directed,  aYid 
ready  to  do  what  he  should  direct." 

In  this  last  passage  Mr.  Jefferson  comes  directly  to  the 


220  THE    CHARACTER   OF 

point,  and  avers,  that  in  a  conversation  with  general  Wash 
ington  in  October,  1792,  he  stated  to  him  that  there  were 
a  numerous  sect  of  politicians  in  the  country  who  had 
monarchy  in  contemplation,  and  that  general  Hamilton 
was  one  of  them.  Here  was  a  direct  attempt  on  the  part 
of  Mr.  Jefferson  to  excite  jealousy  and  hostility  between 
general  Washington  and  general  Hamilton,  on  a  subject 
the  most  likely  of  all  others  to  create  discord  and  aliena 
tion  of  feeling.  But  notwithstanding  he  takes  much  pains, 
in  a  variety  of  instances,  to  have  it  understood  that  he  was 
confidentially  intimate  with  general  Washington,  that  they 
had  frequent  intercourse  with  each  other,  exchanged  sen 
timents  freely,  and  were  on  the  best  terms ;  still,  he  had 
not  influence  enough  to  shake  general  Washington's  con 
fidence  in  general  Hamilton's  integrity  and  principles. 
The  latter  remained  at  the  head  of  the  treasury  until  De 
cember,  1794,  when  he  resigned  his  office  and  retired  to 
private  life. 

Judge  Marshall,  in  his  Life  of  Washington,  when  no 
ticing  this  event,  says — 

"  Seldom  has  any  minister  excited  in  a  higher  or  more 
extensive  degree  than  colonel  Hamilton,  the  opposite  pas 
sions  of  love  and  hate.  His  talents  were  of  a  grade  too 
exalted  not  to  receive  from  all  the  tribute  of  profound  re 
spect  ;  and  his  integrity  and  honor  as  a  man,  not  less  than 
his  official  rectitude,  though  slandered  at  a  distance,  were 
admitted  to  be  superior  to  reproach  by  those  enemies  who 
knew  him. 

"  But  with  respect  to  his  political  principles  and  designs, 
the  most  contrary  opinions  were  entertained.  While  one 
party  sincerely  believed  his  object  to  be  the  preservation 
of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  in  its  original 
purity  ;  the  other,  with  perhaps  equal  sincerity,  imputed 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  221 

to  him  the  insidious  intention  of  subverting  it.  While  his 
friends  were  persuaded  that  he  viewed  foreign  nations 
with  an  equal  eye,  (as  a  statesman)  his  enemies  could  per 
ceive  in  his  conduct  only  hostility  to  France  and  attach 
ment  to  her  rival." 

After  alluding  to  the  difficult  times  in  which  he  was 
called  to  act,  particularly  those  arising  from  the  sentiments 
in  the  country  towards  the  French  revolution — that  he 
judged  that  great  event  without  prejudice,  and  had  the 
courage  to  predict  that  it  could  not  terminate  in  a  free  and 
popular  government ;  and  stating  his  opinions  respecting 
the  nature  of  our  government  and  the  probable  sources  of 
its  danger,  judge  Marshall  adds — 

"  In  the  esteem  and  good  opinion  of  the  president,  to 
whom  he  was  best  known,  colonel  Hamilton  at  all  times 
maintained  a  high  place.  While  balancing  on  the  mission 
to  England,  and  searching  for  a  character  to  whom  the 
interesting  negotiation  with  that  government  should  be 
confided,  the  mind  of  the  chief  magistrate  was  directed, 
among  others,  to  this  gentleman.  He  carried  with  him 
out  of  office  the  same  cordial  esteem  for  his  character  and 
respect  for  his  talents  which  had  induced  his  appoint 
ment." 

In  his  letter  accepting  general  Hamilton's  resignation 
of  the  office  of  secretary  of  the  treasury,  the  president 
said — "  I  cannot  suffer  you,  however,  to  close  your  public 
service  without  uniting  to  the  satisfaction  which  must 
arise  in  your  own  mind  from  conscious  rectitude,  assuran 
ces  of  my  most  perfect  persuasion  that  you  have  deserved 
well  of  your  country. 

"  My  personal  knowledge  of  your  exertions,  while  it  au 
thorizes  me  to  hold  this  language,  justifies  the  sincere 
friendship  which  I  have  borne  you,  and  which  will  accom 
pany  you  in  every  situation  in  life." 


222  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

This  strong  expression  of  respect  and  affection  from 
such  a  man  as  George  Washington,  whose  feelings  were 
elevated  as  far  above  all  affectation  and  hypocrisy,  as  his 
life  had  been  above  hollow-hearted  professions  and  selfish 
ness,  might  with  the  most  sincere  gratification  be  placed 
in  the  scale  opposite  to  Mr.  Jefferson's  dark,  concealed, 
and  insidious  slanders ;  and  had  he  been  fully  informed 
of  what  Mr.  Jefferson's  posthumous  publications  were 
to  contain,  he  might,  and  he  doubtless  would,  have  man 
ifested  towards  him  and  them,  the  most  heart-felt  con 
tempt. 

Equally  unfortunate  was  Mr.  Jefferson  in  his  attempts 
to  revile  and  ridicule  Hamilton's  financial  system.  That 
scheme,  which  he  says  was  intended  to  puzzle  one  portion 
of  the  community  and  to  corrupt  the  other,  was,  in  itself, 
one  of  the  most  extraordinary  efforts  of  the  human  mindy 
in  a  political  point  of  view,  and  its  effects  upon  the  coun 
try  were  of  the  most  beneficial  kind.  It  has  been  seen 
what  views  he  entertained,  or  professed  to  entertain  of  it. 
In  opposition  to  them  may  be  placed  the  sentiments  of  a 
much  greater  statesman  than  Mr.  Jefferson  ever  was.  In 
a  speech,  delivered  at  a  meeting  of  citizens  of  the  city  of 
New  York  in  1831,  by  Daniel  Webster,  a  senator  in  con 
gress  from  the  state  of  Massachusetts,  when  speaking  of 
general  Hamilton,  he  said — "  He  saw  at  last  his  hopes  ful 
filled;  he  saw  the  constitution  adopted,  and  the  govern 
ment  under  it  established  and  organized.  The  discerning 
eye  of  Washington  immediately  called  him  to  that  post 
which  was  infinitely  the  most  important  in  the  administra 
tion  of  the  new  system.  He  was  secretary  of  the  treas 
ury;  and  how  he  fulfilled  the  duties  of  such  a  place,  at 
such  a  time,  the  whole  country  perceived  with  delight 
and  the  whole  world  saw  with  admiration.  He  smote  the 
xock  of  the  national  resources,  and  abundant  streams  of 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  223 

revenue  burst  forth.  He  touched  the  dead  corpse  of  the 
public  credit,  and  it  sprung  upon  its  feet.  The  fabled 
birth  of  Minerva,  from  the  brain  of  Jove,  was  hardly  more 
sudden,  or  more  perfect,  than  the  financial  system  of  the 
United  States,  burst  forth  from  the  conceptions  of  ALEX 
ANDER  HAMILTON." 


224  THE    CHARACTER    OF 


CHAPTER    XII. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  policy  to  render  the  federalists  unpopular  by  stig- 
•  matizing  them  as  monarchists — In  his  letter  to  Mazzei  he  char 
ges  general  Washington  with  being  a  monarchist — John  Adams 
originally  a  republican — Essex  federalists — No  proof  adduced 
to  support  the  charge — Truth  to  be  ascertained  by  the  measures 
of  the  government  while  under  their  control — Judiciary — Pay 
ment  of  the  national  debt — Hamilton's  funding  system  adopted 
— National  bank — Opposed  by  the  republicans — Its  constitution 
ality  established  by  the  supreme  court  and  acknowledged  by 
congress — Not  monarchical — The  true  ground  of  opposition  its 
being  owned  and  managed  by  federalists — Establishment  of  a 
navy — Its  necessity  and  utility  universally  admitted — Mr.  Jef 
ferson's  opposition  to  the  British  treaty  and  wish  to  screen  Ge 
net,  evidence  of  his  attachment  to  France — Jefferson  discovered 
nothing  monarchical  in  the  federalists  until  after  his  party  was 
formed — Letter  to  Carmichael,  March,  1791 — Sentiments  in  the 
Ana  in  1818 — His  greatest  apprehension  of  monarchy  arose 
from  the  levees,  &c. — All  ground  of  fear  had  been  removed  be 
fore  his  Ana  were  written. 

FROM  many  references  which  have  been  made  to,  and 
quotations  from,  Mr.  Jefferson's  works,  it  has  been  seen 
that  the  principal  artifice  used  by  him  to  render  the  fed 
eralists  unpopular,  and  in  that  way  to  destroy  their  influ 
ence,  was  to  stigmatize  them  as  monarchists.  In  the  com 
mencement  of  his  "  Ana  "  he  says,  "  But  a  short  review  of 
facts  *  *  *  *  will  show  that  the  contests  of  that 
day  were  contests  of  principle,  between  the  advocates  of 
republican  and  those  of  a  kingly  government ;  and  that, 
had  not  the  former  made  the  efforts  they  did,  our  govern 
ment  would  have  been,  even  at  this  early  day,  a  very  dif 
ferent  thing  from  what  the  successful  issue  of  those  efforts 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  225 

have  made  it."  What  is  to  be  understood  by  these  aster 
isks  it  is  not  easy  to  determine ;  but  the  sentence  assumes 
it  as  a  fact  that  there  was  a  party  in  the  country  who 
were  endeavoring  to  change  the  republican  system  of  its 
government  into  a  monarchy.  This  is  a  specific  and  cer 
tainly  a  very  serious  charge ;  and  if  not  founded  in  truth 
is  not  only  disreputable  but  base  and  detestable.  By  per 
sisting  in  it  he  eventually  succeeded  in  making  it  to  be 
believed  by  a  large  portion  of  the  people,  and  at  the  same 
time  established  his  own  claim  to  the  character  of  the 
great  champion  of  republicanism.  In  his  letter  to  Mazzei 
he  makes  a  specific  charge  of  monarchical  principles 
against  general  Washington,  and  he  rarely  missed  an  op 
portunity  of  alleging  it  against  several  of  the  members  of 
his  cabinet,  and  particularly  against  general  Hamilton. 
He  professes  to  repeat  frequent  conversations  with  that 
distinguished  man,  in  which  he  avers  that  general  Hamil 
ton  openly,  and  without  the  least  reserve,  declared  his 
preference  for  a  monarchy  over  a  republican  government, 
and  even  a  monarchy  bottomed  on  corruption.  A  similar 
charge  is  made  by  him  against  general  Knox ;  and  then 
enlarging  the  circle  he  says,  that  upon  his  entering  upon 
the  office  of  secretary  of  state  early  in  the  year  1790,  and 
during  the  first  session  of  congress  under  the  new  consti 
tution,  at  dinner  parties  to  which  he  was  invited  and  pres 
ent,  "  a  preference  of  kingly  over  republican  government 
was  evidently  the  favorite  sentiment."  Even  Mr.  John 
Adams,  with  whom  he  carried  on  an  intimate  and  ani 
mated  epistolary  correspondence  for  a  good  many  years 
before  their  deaths,  in  his  "  Ana  "  is  involved  in  the  same 
condemnation.  "  Mr.  Adams,"  he  says,  "  had  originally 
been  a  republican.  The  glare  of  royalty  and  nobility  dur 
ing  his  mi'ssion  to  England,  had  made  him  believe  their 
fascination  a  necessary  ingredient  in  government."  "  His 


226  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

book  on  the  American  constitution  having  made  known 
his  political  bias,  he  was  taken  up  by  the  monarchical  fed 
eralists  in  his  absence,  and  on  his  return  to  the  United 
States  he  was  by  them  made  to  believe  that  the  general 
disposition  of  our  citizens  was  favorable  to  monarchy.  He 
here  wrote  his  Davila,  as  a  supplement  to  the  former  work, 
and  his  election  to  the  presidency  confirmed  him  in  his 
errors." 

In  one  of  his  letters,  dated  January  13,  1813,  he  says, 
"  Anglomany,  monarchy  and  separation,  then,  are  the 
principles  of  the  Essex  federalists ;  Anglomany  and  mon 
archy  those  of  the  Hamiltonians,  and  Anglomany  alone 
that  of  the  portion  among  the  people  who  call  themselves 
federalists."  His  allegations  respecting  some  of  the  mem 
bers  of  the  conventions  of  Annapolis  and  Philadelphia  will 
be  found  in  this  work.  He  says  repeatedly  that  general 
Washington  knew  his  suspicions  of  general  Hamilton's 
designs  against  the  government,  and  he  adds  in  one  in 
stance  that  he  wished  to  quiet  them. 

Charges  and  insinuations  of  this  kind  are  to  be  found 
scattered  through  a  large  portion  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  cor 
respondence,  sometimes  more  and  sometimes  less  direct, 
according  to  the  character  of  the  correspondent  or  the  na 
ture  of  the  object  he  had  in  view,  but  always  clear  and 
explicit  enough  to  answer  his  purpose. 

In  the  letter  to  Mr.  Melish,  dated  January  13,  1813, 
from  which  a  passage  has  been  cited,  he  says,  "  I  sincerely 
wish  our  differences  were  but  personally  who  should  gov 
ern,  and  that  the  principles  of  our  constitution  were  those 
of  both  parties.  Unfortunately  it  is  otherwise;  and  the 
question  of  preference  between  monarchy  and  republican 
ism,  which  has  so  long  divided  mankind  elsewhere,  threat 
ens  a  permanent  division."  Here  the  charge  that  mo 
narchical  principles  not  only  existed  here  as  late  as  1813, 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  227 

but  that  they  threatened  to  establish  a  permanent  division 
among  the  people  is  explicitly  made.     To  prove  the  jus 
tice  of  this  charge,  advanced  by  Mr.  Jefferson  immediate 
ly  after  the  organization  of  the  government  and  persevered 
in  down  almost  to  the  close  of  his  life,  it  would  seem  to 
have  been  necessary  for  him  to  produce  something  in  the 
shape  of  evidence.     At  the  date  of  this  letter  he  had  made 
it  and  persisted  in  it  against  the  federalists  for  more  than 
twenty  years.     Those  distinguished  persons  who  were  first 
singled  out  as  the  objects  of  his  maledictions  had  long  been 
dead ;  and  of  course  all  danger  to  our  institutions  and  sys 
tem  of  government  from  their  precepts  or  example  was  at 
an  end.     But  as  that  which  he  called  a  revolution,  that  is, 
his  own  elevation  to  the  head  of  the  government,  had  been 
accomplished,  in  a  very  essential  degree,  by  the  inculcation 
of  this  imputation  among  the  people  at  large,  he  was  desir 
ous  of  persevering  in  it  to  the  last,  in  order  to  secure  and 
perpetuate  his  title  to  the  character  of  the  great  republican 
patriot  of  the  United  States.     It  therefore  becomes  a  sub 
ject  of  much  importance  to  examine  the  history  of  federal 
ism  and  the  character  and  conduct  of  the  federalists  as  a 
great  political  party,  who  formed  and  procured  the  adop 
tion  of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  adminis 
tered  the  government  under  it  for  the  first  twelve  years  of 
its  existence,  in  order  to  ascertain  by  the  truth  of  history 
whether  they  ever,  jointly  or  severally,  entertained  mo 
narchical  principles  or  attempted  to  introduce  a  monarchy 
into  their  country.     If  it  be  true  that  those  who   formed 
the  constitution  did  endeavor  to  destroy  the  work  of  their 
own  hands,  and  attempted  to  transform  the  government 
established  by  their  exertions  into  a  monarchy,  the  proof 
of  it  must  necessarily  appear  in  the   proceedings  of  that 
government  whilst  it  was  under  their  care.     And  if,  after 
a  thorough  examination,  no  such  proof  can  be  found,  the 


228  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

conclusion  will  be  irresistible,  not  only  that  the  charge  is 
without  foundation,  but  that  it  was  made,  and  persevered 
in,  for  the  basest  of  purposes. 

One  of  the  earliest,  and  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most 
important,  measures  adopted  at  the  first  session  of  the  first 
congress  under  the  constitution,  was  the  establishment  of 
a  national  judiciary.  As  the  constitution  provided  ex 
pressly  for  such  a  branch  of  the  government,  it  became 
the  duty  of  congress  to  establish  courts  in  pursuance  of 
that  provision.  Of  course  the  measure  itself  could  not  be 
considered  as  monarchical  in  its  character  or  tendency ;  or 
if  it  was  it  was  the  fault  of  the  constitution,  and  not  of  the 
administration  or  of  the  congress. 

Another  important  measure  which  occupied  much  of 
the  time  and  attention  of  the  first  congress,  was  the  adop 
tion  of  a  plan  for  the  adjustment  and  payment  of  the  nation 
al  debt.  This  debt  was  incurred  during  the  war  of  inde 
pendence  and  lay  with  immovable  weight  upon  the  states. 
The  constitution  gave  the  power,  in  express  terms,  to  pro 
vide  the  means  to  pay  the  debts  of  the  United  States.  A 
large  part  of  the  amount  was  due  to  foreigners,  and  the  resi 
due  was  scattered  among  their  own  citizens.  There  was  no 
difference  of  opinion  respecting  the  duty  of  discharging  it 
as  fast  as  the  means  of  the  government  would  allow. 
The  difficulty  arose  respecting  the  manner  of  accomplish 
ing  it. 

A  great  deal  of  discussion  took  place  on  that  point  of 
the  case ;  which  was  finally  terminated  by  the  adoption  of 
the  plan  proposed  by  the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  com 
monly  called  the  funding  system,  which  passed  both  houses 
of  congress  and  was  approved  by  president  Washington. 
This  measure  was  satisfactory  to  the  public  creditors;  and 
under  its  operation,  the  debt  was  eventually  paid  in  full, 
without  burdening  the  country.  If  there  was  anything 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  229 

monarchical  in  the  adoption  of  a  measure  expressly  pro 
vided  for  in  the  constitution,  and  required  by  every  princi 
ple  of  national  honesty  and  honor,  there  might  have  been 
some  color  for  the  charge  preferred  by  Mr.  Jefferson 
against  the  federalists  for  forming  and  adopting  the  fund 
ing  system,  and  paying  the  debts  of  the  United  States.  If 
there  was  not — if  integrity  in  the  performance  of  so  plain 
and  obvious  a  duty  as  that  of  paying  debts  justly  incurred, 
and  honestly  due,  is  a  republican  principle,  and  a  proper 
characteristic  of  a  republican  government,  it  must  have 
been  brought  as  a  charge  of  monarchical  propensity  in  the 
federalists  for  the  sole  purpose  of  swelling  the  catalogue 
of  calumnies  against  that  description  of  politicians.  Men 
might  naturally  be  supposed  likely  to  differ  about  the 
mode  of  accomplishing  so  important  an  object  as  that  of 
the  payment  of  so  large  and  meritorious  a  debt,  and  a  ma 
jority  might  be  mistaken  in  the  adoption  of  a  plan  for  that 
purpose.  But  in  neither  case,  had  it  occurred,  would  it  have 
had  the  least  possible  tendency  to  prove  a  monarchical  dispo 
sition,  or  design,  in  the  party  who  had  fallen  into  the  error. 
If  there  was  anything  of  such  a  character  in  the  funding 
system,  it  must  have  been  in  carrying  it  into  effect.  Now 
it  is  a  little  remarkable,  that  for  eight  years,  during  the 
period  of  his  own  administration  of  the  national  govern 
ment,  when  that  system  was  in  the  course  of  execution, 
Mr.  Jefferson  often  boasted  of  the  large  payments  of  the 
public  debt  that  had  been  made  under  it;  and  although  it 
was  in  full  force  during  every  successive  administration, 
until  the  debt  was  finally  paid  in  full,  the  monarchical  ten 
dency  of  it  has  not  since  his  election  as  president,  caused 
any  alarm  or  anxiety  for  the  safety  of  republicanism  in 
these  United  States ;  nor  has  it  ever  been  alluded  to  by 
any  succeeding  president,  as  tending  to  the  introduction  of 
monarchy. 

20 


230  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

Another  measure  which  met  with  strong  opposition 
from  Mr. 'Jefferson  and  his  political  friends,  was  the  propo 
sition  to  establish  a  national  bank.  This  was  violently 
opposed  on  various  grounds,  and  particularly  as  being  not 
warranted  by  the  constitution.  The  act  for  its  establish 
ment  was  passed,  notwithstanding  these  objections,  and 
approved  by  president  Washington.  Its  constitutionality 
was  subsequently  brought  before  the  supreme  court,  where 
it  was  fully  considered,  and  established  by  a  regular  judi 
cial  decision.  Among  the  most  able  and  the  most  stren 
uous  opponents  of  the  institution  was  Mr.  Madison  of  Vir 
ginia,  afterwards  president  of  the  United  States.  It  is  a 
remarkable  circumstance,  that  the  charter  of  the  bank  ex 
pired  during  his  administration;  and  such  was  found  to 
be  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  national  monied  institution, 
in  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  government,  that 
a  new  bank,  with  a  capital  nearly  four  times  as  large  as  the 
former,  was  incorporated,  and  Mr.  Madison,  who,  when  a 
member  of  the  house  of  representatives,  most  zealously 
opposed  the  establishment  of  the  first  bank  on  the  ground 
of  its  unconstitutionality,  approved  and  signed  the  second 
bill  as  president  of  the  United  States. 

The  constitutionality  of  a  national  bank  has  been  ac 
knowledged  by  congress  under  every  administration  since 
the  formation  of  the  government,  except  that  under  which 
the  last  bank  expired.  The  question  may,  therefore,  be 
considered  as  settled,  as  far  as  the  opinion  of  congress,  the 
decision  of  the  courts,  and  the  acquiescence  of  the  coun 
try  for  forty  years,  can  settle  any  such  question.  Still,  the 
monarchical  tendency  of  such  an  institution  may  not  be 
affected  by  any  of  the  foregoing  considerations.  The  gov 
ernment,  in  all  its  branches,  may  have  approved  of  it,  and 
the  people  may  have  acquiesced  in  it  for  nearly  half  a 
century,  and  yet  its  tendency  may  have  been  necessarily 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  231 

towards  the  introduction  of  a  monarchy  in  the  place  of 
our  republican  government.  If  so,  it  was  beyond  doubt  a 
most  dangerous  institution.  Such  Mr.  Jefferson  says  it 
actually  was.  In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Gallatin,  without  date,  but 
which,  by  its  position  in  his  correspondence,  was  probably 
written  in  December,  1803,  or  January  1004,  he  says,  "  from 
a  passage  in  the  letter  of  the  president,  I  observe  an  idea  of 
establishing  a  branch  bank  of  the  United  States  in  New 
Orleans.  This  institution  is  one  of  the  most  deadly  hos 
tility  existing  against  the  principles  and  form  of  our  con 
stitution.  The  nation  is,  at  this  time,  so  strong  and  united 
in  its  sentiments,  that  it  cannot  be  shaken  at  this  moment. 
But  suppose  a  series  of  untoward  events  should  occur,  suf 
ficient  to  bring  into  doubt  the  competency  of  a  republican 
government  to  meet  a  crisis  of  great  danger,  or  to  unhinge 
the  confidence  of  the  people  i?i  the  public  functionaries  ;  an 
institution  like  this,  penetrating  by  its  branches  :>very  part 
of  the  Union,  acting  by  command  and  in  phalanx,  may  in 
a  critical  moment,  upset  the  government.  I  deem  no  gov 
ernment  safe  which  is  under  the  vassalage  of  any  self- 
constituted  authorities,  or  any  other  authority  than  that  of 
the  nation,  or  its  regular  functionaries.  What  an  obstruc 
tion  could  not  this  bank  of  the  United  States,  with  all  its 
branch  banks,  be  in  time  of  war?  It  might  dictate  to  us 
the  peace  we  should  accept,  or  withdraw  its  aids.  Ought 
we  then  to  give  further  growth  to  an  institution  so  power 
ful,  so  hostile  ?  That  it  is  so  hostile  we  know,  1.  From 
a  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  the  persons  composing  the 
body  of  directors  in  every  bank,  principal  or  branch  ;  and 
those  of  most  of  the  stockholders.  2.  From  their  opposi 
tion  to  the  measures  and  principles  of  the  government,  and 
to  the  election  of  those  friendly  to  them  ;  and,  3.  From  the 
sentiments  of  the  newspapers  they  support.  Now,  while 
we  are  strong,  it  is  the  greatest  duty  we  owe  to  the  safety 


232  THE   CHARACTER  OF 

of  our  constitution,  to  bring  this  powerful  enemy  to  a  per 
fect  subordination  under  its  authorities.  The  first  measure 
would  bs  to  reduce  them  to  an  equal  footing  only  with 
other  banks,  as  to  the  favors  of  the  government." 

It  was  not  sufficient  for  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  order  to  main 
tain  the  ground  J^J1^  taken,  to  prove  that  a  national  bank 
was  mischievous,  or  even  unconstitutional.  It  might  have 
been  both,  and  yet  had  no  monarchical  tendency.  That 
he,  and  of  course  that  the  leaders  of  his  party,  were  op 
posed  to  such  an  institution,  is  undoubtedly  true.  And 
whoever  will  carefully  examine  the  foregoing  extract  from 
his  correspondence,  will  easily  discern  what  was  the  real 
ground  of  his  opposition.  His  remark  is,  that  the  bank 
was  one  of  the  most  deadly  hostility  against  the  principles 
and  form  of  our  constitution.  He  says,  that  the  nation 
was,  at  that  moment,  too  strong  and  united  in  its  senti 
ments  to  be  shaken.  But  if  a  series  of  untoward  events 
should  occur,  sufficient  to  bring  into  doubt  the  competency 
of  a  republican  government  to  meet  a  crisis  of  great  dan 
ger,  or  to  unhinge  the  confidence  of  the  people  in  the  pub 
lic  functionaries,  such  an  institution,  acting  by  command, 
and  in  phalanx,  might  in  a  critical  moment  upset  the  gov- 
ment.  He  argues  this  from  a  knowledge  of  the  principles 
of  the  directors  of  the  bank  of  the  United  States,  and  those 
of  most  of  the  stockholders — from  their  opposition  to  the 
the  measures  of  the  government — and  from  the  character  of 
their  newspapers  !  The  true  meaning  of  all  this  is,  that 
the  officers  of  the  bank  and  many  of  the  stockholders  were 
federalists,  that  they  disapproved  of  his  administration  ; 
and  if  anything  should  ever  destroy  the  confidence  of  the 
people  in  his  principles  and  measures,  they  would  thereby 
destroy  the  government  and  bring  in  a  monarchy.  At  the 
same  time,  he  did  not  at  that  moment  apprehend  any  im 
mediate  danger.  He  considered  his  own  popularity  too 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON. 


233 


firmly  established  to  be  shaken.  Of  course,  the  inference 
is  too  obvious  to  be  questioned,  that  in  his  view  the  gov 
ernment  would  be  safe,  as  long  as  his  popularity  and  influ 
ence  lasted,  from  their  monarchical  propensities  and  inten 
tions ;  but  whenever  the  time  should  come  that  would 
bring  about  a  change  in  the  public  feeling,  and  his  popu 
larity  should  decline,  or  be  destroyed,  then  the  bank  would 
step  in  and  overthrow  the  government.  Then  it  would 
show  its  true  character,  which  he  declares  to  be,  one  of  the 
most  deadly  hostility  against  not  only  "  the  principles,  but 
the  very  form  of  the  governme?it"  This  explains  Mr. 
Jefferson's  meaning  when  he  declares  his  election  to  have 
been  a  revolution. 

But  allowing  all  that  he  can  claim  for  his  sentiments,  as 
above  announced,  respecting  the  character  and  capacity  of 
the  bank  for  mischief,  he  falls  far  short  of  proving  its  mo 
narchical  tendency  or  its  power  to  "  upset  the  government/' 
If  it  had  accomplished  the  latter  object,  it  might  possibly 
have  plunged  the  country  into  a  state  of  anarchy  ;  but  it 
does  not  follow  as  a  necessary  consequence,  that  it  would 
have  established  a  monarchy.  He  had  no  such  fears.  He 
talked  of  monarchy  and  monarchical  propensities  and  de 
signs  among  the  federalists,  solely  for  the  purpose  of  hold 
ing  himself  up  as  the  great  friend  of  the  people,  the  de 
fender  of  their  rights,  and  the  "  apostle  of  republicanism." 
This  is  the  language  of  every  demagogue  who  has  ever 
undertaken  to  deceive  a  community  for  the  purpose  of  ac 
complishing  his  own  ambitious  views  and  projects. 

Experience  has  proved  that  there  was  nothing  in  the 
character  of  a  national  bank  which  had  any  tendency  to 
change  our  republican  government  into  a  monarchy.  The 
two  institutions  continued  in  force  for  forty  years,  out  of 
forty-six,  after  the  establishment  of  the  government.  They 
both  proved  in  a  high  degree  useful  to  the  country,  and: 


234  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

had  a  most  important  agency  in  promoting  the  general 
welfare  and  prosperity.  The  condition  of  the  pecuniary 
aflairs  of  the  union,  since  the  expiration  of  the  second, 
and  especially  the  pecuniary  distresses  of  1837,  afford  the 
best  commentary  on  the  wisdom  of  congress  in  providing 
such  an  institution ;  and  the  loss  of  it  was  most  severely 
felt  in  the  depression  of  the  value  of  property,  and  of  all 
the  business  of  the  country. 

The  proposition  for  the  establishment  of  a  navy,  was  a 
measure  exclusively  of  federal  origin.  To  this  Mr.  Jeffer 
son  and  of  course  his  partizans,  were  most  decidedly  op 
posed.  General  Washington,  in  his  official  communica 
tion  to  congress  at  the  session  immediately  preceding 
his  final  retirement  from  office,  urged  its  necessity  and  im 
portance  upon  the  consideration  of  that  branch  of  the  gov 
ernment  ;  and  during  the  short  period  of  his  successor's  ad 
ministration,  much  was  done  towards  the  establishment  of 
that  species  of  national  protection  and  defence.  Mr.  Jef 
ferson  followed  Mr.  Adams  as  president ;  and  under  his  in 
fluence  the  naval  system  was  abandoned,  and  a  large  pro 
portion  of  the  force  which  had  been  built  up  under  the 
former  was  reduced  and  sold  by  the  latter. 

The  history  of  the  government  since  the  administration 
of  Mr.  Jefferson  closed,  and  the  universal  manifestation  of 
public,  opinion  in  favor  of  a  navy,  are  sufficient  to  deter 
mine  the  relative  merits  of  federal  policy,  and  his  opinions 
on  the  subject.  Whatever  its  tendency  might  have  been 
in  his  view,  whether  monarchical  or  republican,  there  is  no 
political  topic  in  the  whole  circle  of  national  affairs,  in 
which  the  people  of  the  United  States  have  come  more 
fully  to  agree,  than  in  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  navy  to 
our  national  security.  In  a  letter  to  Elbridge  Gerry,  da 
ted  January  26th  ,  1799,  (Jefferson's  Works,  3d  vol.  page 
409,)  he  says,  "  I  am  for  relying  for  our  internal  defence 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  235 

on  our  militia  solely  until  actual  invasion,  and  for  such  a 
naval  force  only  as  may  protect  our  coasts  and  harbors 
from  such  depredations  as  we  have  experienced  ;  and  not 
for  a  standing  army  in  time  of  peace,  which  may  over 
awe  the  public  sentiment;  nor  for  a  navy,  which,  by  its 
own  expenses  and  the  eternal  wars  in  which  it  will  impli 
cate  us,  will  grind  us  with  public  burthens,  and  sink  us 
under  them."  These  were  his  sentiments.  Events  have 
shown  that  they  were  unworthy  of  a  great  statesman,  or 
even  a  practical  politician. 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  opposed  to  the  treaty  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain,  negotiated  by  Mr.  Jay, 
which  was  far  more  beneficial  to  this  country  than  any 
treaty  we  have  ever  had  with  that  nation  from  that  day  to 
this.  His  feelings  in  relation  to  it  are  to  be  accounted 
for  upon  the  ground  of  his  attachment  to  France  and  en 
mity  to  Great  Britain.  Mr.  Jefferson  manifestly  wished 
to  screen  Genet  from  the  censure  of  our  government  dur 
ing  his  residence  in  this  country  as  minister  from  France. 

Here  also  his  French  feelings  got  the  upperhand  as  in 
the  before  mentioned  case. 

But  if  there  was  anything  in  the  conduct  of  our  admin 
istration,  in  either,  or  in  all  these  transactions  that  had  a 
monarchical  tendency,  all  danger  from  them  had  ceased 
long  before  his  "Ana"  were  written,  or  his  letters  selected 
and  prepared  for  publication  ;  so  that  as  far  as  that  danger 
was  concerned,  his  mind  must  have  been  relieved  from  all 
apprehensions  from  that  quarter. 

There  was  nothing  in  the  nature  or  tendency  of  the 
measures  or  policy  of  the  government  under  the  federal 
administration  of  it,  that  savored  in  the  slightest  degree  of 
monarchical  principles  or  propensities.  Nor  did  Mr.  Jeffer 
son  himself  profess  to  consider  them  as  of  such  a  character, 
until  the  party  of  which  he  was  the  original  head  and  lead- 


236 


THE     CHARACTER    OF 


er,  had  become  more  distinctly  formed,  and  it  became 
necessary  for  them,  in  their  future  plans  and  operations, 
to  assume  a  counter-sign,  by  which  they  should  be  known 
and  rallied.  In  March,  1791,  he  was  apparently  grat 
ified  with  the  measures  of  the  government.  In  a  letter  of 
that  date  to  William  Carmichasl,  who  held  then  a  diplo 
matic  office  in  Spain,  he  remarks — "  The  term  of  the  first 
congress  having  expired  on  the  3d  inst.,  they  separated  on 
that  day,  much  important  business  being  necessarily  post 
poned.  New  elections  have  taken  place  for  the  most  part, 
and  very  few  changes  made.  This  is  one  of  many  proofs 
that  the  proceedings  of  the  new  government  have  give?i 
general  satisfaction.  Some  acts,  indeed,  have  produced 
local  discontents  ;  but  these  can  never  be  avoided."  These 
sentiments  were  uttered,  in  this  confidential  manner,  to  a 
man  with  whom  he  appears  to  have  been  on  terms  of  pri 
vate  as  well  as  public  intimacy  and  friendship.  And  this 
letter  was  written  after  the  establishment  of  the  judiciary, 
the  national  bank,  the  adoption  of  the  funding  system,  and 
the  assumption  of  the  slate  debts — the  great  measures  of 
the  government  at  its  outset,  and  which,  from  the  language 
used,  and  the  sentiments  expressed  by  him  afterwards,  and 
particularly  in  that  extraordinary  farrago  which  goes  under 
the  name  of  "Ana,"  and  has  been  so  often  quoted  from  or 
referred  to,  would  seem  to  have  been  peculiarly  obnoxious 
to  him.  In  February,  ISIS,  writing  professedly  on  what 
occurred  nearly  thirty  years  before,  he  calls  the  financial 
system  which  had  been  established  before  the  date  of  his 
letter  to  Carmichael  "  a  puzzle,"  intended  "  to  exclude  popu 
lar  understanding  and  inquiry ;  "  and  "  a  machine  for  the 
corruption  of  the  legislature."  And  he  adds,  that  "  with 
grief  and  shame  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  his  ma 
chine  was  not  without  its  effect."  He  afterwards  does  say 
that  "  nothing  like  a  majority  in  congress  had  yielded  to 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  237 

this  corruption.  Far  from  it.  But  a  divison  not  very  un 
equal  had  already  taken  place  in  the  honest  part  of  that 
body  between  the  parties  styled  republican  and  federal. 
The  latter  being  monarchists  in  principle  adhered  to 'Ham 
ilton,  of  course,  as  their  leader  in  that  principle,  and  this 
mercenary  phalanx  added  to  them  insured  him  always  a 
majority  in  both  houses ;  so  that  the  whole  action  of  the 
legislature  was  now  under  the  direction  of  the  treasury."  If 
this  state  of  things  ever  existed,  it  was  before  the  date  of 
the  letter  to  Carmichsel.  That  was  written  in  1791;  the 
above  extract  from  the  "Ana,"  in  1818.  In  the  former  he 
unquestionably  wrote  his  real  sentiments,  when  he  said 
the  proceedings  of  the  government  had  given  general 
satisfaction,  though  some  of  the  acts  of  congress  had  pro 
duced  local  discontents,  which  could  never  be  avoided.  In 
the  latter,  he  was  laying  up  materials  for  history,  and  his 
object  was  to  blacken  the  characters  of  the  federalists,  and 
to  elevate  his  own. 

But  it  would  seem  from  his  own  often  repeated  decla 
rations,  that  the  greatest  cause  of  his  fears  for  the  liberties 
of  his  country  was  the  pomp  and  parade  which  was  ob 
served  about  the  executive  branch  of  the  government. 
He  appears  to  have  been  very  apprehensive  that  the  cere 
monies  which  took  place  at  the  inauguration  of  general 
Washington  as  president  of  the  United  States,  the  levees 
at  his  house,  the  birth-night  balls  and  new-year  visits, 
which  were  voluntarily  given  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
cities  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  would,  unless  check 
ed  and  discountenanced,  prove  the  certain  harbinger  of  a 
monarchical  government.  It  has  been  seen  that  he  calls 
an  expression  in  the  letter  to  Mazzei  a  misrepresentation, 
which,  as  first  published  in  this  country,  made  him  say 
that  the  monarchical  party,  by  which  he  always  meant 
the  federalists,  had  imposed  upon  us  the  form  of  the  Brit- 


238 


THE    CHARACTER    OF 


ish  government.  This,  at  it  stood,  would  of  course  be 
considered  as  an  allusion  to  our  constitution.  In  his  ex 
planation  of  his  own  meaning,  and  for  the  purpose  of  cor 
recting  this  misrepresentation,  he  says,  in  a  letter  to  James 
Madison,  dated  August  3,  1797,  "The  original  has  a  sen 
timent  like  this,  '  They  are  endeavoring  to  submit  us  to 
the  substance  as  they  have  already  to  the  forms  of  the 
British  government;'  meaning  by  forms  the  birth-days, 
levees,  processions  to  parliament,  inauguration  pomposi 
ties,  &c."  After  admitting  all  that  Mr.  Jefferson  could  have 
asked  respecting  the  nature  of  these  ceremonies,  allow 
ing  them  to  be  as  childish  and  frivolous  as  he  could  have 
wished,  still  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that  he  actually 
feared  that,  if  persisted  in,  they  would  in  the  end  change 
our  government  into  a  monarchy;  and  it  is  not  very  easy 
to  believe  that  he  even  thought  they  had  any  real  tenden 
cy  to  produce  that  result.  The  cause  was  not  sufficient 
to  produce  the  effect. 

But  however  sincere  Mr.  Jefferson  may  originally  have 
been  in  his  apprehensions  of  danger  to  our  republican 
system  of  government  from  this  source,  every  symptom 
or  pretence  of  fear  of  that  danger  had  vanished  long  before 
the  time  when  he  prepared  his  "  Ana  "  for  future  publica 
tion  ;  and  no  reason  can  be  given  for  his  placing  his  fears 
among  his  materials  for  history.  Indeed  no  other  expla 
nation  can  be  given  of  the  pains  he  took  to  collect  and 
display  those  fears  in  his  manuscripts,  so  long  after  those 
whom  he  charged  with  having  treasonable  designs  against 
the  government  and  liberties  of  the  country  had  ceased  to 
exist,  and  when  events  had  shown  that  they  were  ground 
less,  except  the  habit  of  slandering  the  characters  of  those 
whose  talents  he  feared  and  whose  influence  he  dreaded, 
and,  it  may  be  added,  whose  patriotic  virtues  he  could 
never  imitate.  This  habit  by  long  continued  use  had  be- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  239 

come  inveterate ;  and  as  he  had  succeeded  in  raising  the 
fabric  of  his  popularity  on  that  foundation,  he  probably 
persuaded  himself  that  he  should  be  able  to  perpetuate  it 
in  the  same  manner  and  by  the  use  of  the  same  means. 
And  it  may  be  considered  as  a  signal  .dispensation  of 
Providence  that  his  life  was  protracted  to  such  an  ex 
traordinary  length  that  he  outlived  his  judgment,  and  was 
left  to  collect  together  in  his  dotage  a  body  of  facts  and 
sentiments  which  will  forever  destroy  the  reputation  he 
had  taken  such  unwearied  and  unwarrantable  pains  to 
form  and  establish. 


240  THE    CHARACTER    OF 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

The  federalists  had  no  confidence  in  Mr.  Jefferson  as  a  politician 
— His  election  a  revolution — To  ascertain  the  nature  of  that 
revolution  his  messages  to  congress  must  be  examined — No  act 
alluded  to  in  his  messages  to  congress  as  having  a  monarchical 
tendency — No  original  national  measures  recommended  by  him 
but  gun-boats  and  dry  docks — Letter  to  Nicholson  on  gun-boats — 
Committee  under  Madison  on  gun-boats — Secretary  of  navy's  re 
port  to  that  committee — Correspondence  between  general  Wash 
ington  and  Nicholas,  &cc.,  respecting  John  Langhorne. 

THE  federalists  had  no  confidence  in  Mr.  Jefferson's 
principles  as  a  politician,  nor  in  his  talents  as  a  statesman. 
In  a  letter  to  judge  Roane,  dated  September  6,  1819,  (vol. 
4,  page  316,)  speaking  of  his  own  election,  Mr.  Jefferson 
says : — 

"I  had  read  in  the  Enquirer,  and  with  great  approba 
tion,  the  pieces  signed  Hampden,  and  have  read  them 
again  with  redoubled  approbation  in  the  copies  you  have 
been  so  kind  as  to  send  me.  They  contain  the  true  prin 
ciples  of  the  revolution  of  1800,  for  that  was  as  real  a  rev 
olution  in  the  principles  of  our  government  as  that  of  1776 
was  in  its  form ;  not  effected  indeed  by  the  sword  as  that, 
but  by  the  rational  and  peaceable  instrument  of  reform, 
the  suffrage  of  the  people."  If  this  revolution  produced 
any  other  important  result  than  a  change  of  men  the  fact 
can  easily  be  shown,  because  there  must  necessarily  be 
record  evidence  to  prove  it.  Mr.  Jefferson  was  in  office 
eight  years.  It  was  his  constitutional  duty  to  give  to 
congress,  from  time  to  time,  "  information  of  the  state  of 
the  Union,  and  recommend  to  their  consideration  such 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  241 

measures  as  he  should  judge  necessary  and  expedient." 
To  his  official  communications  to  congress,  therefore,  we 
must  look  for  such  recommendations,  and  to  the  statute 
book  for  the  measures  thus  recommended  by  him,  so  far 
as  they  were  adopted  by  congress  and  carried  into  effect. 

It  will  be  expedient  to  examine  the  annual  messages 
delivered  by  Mr.  Jefferson  during  the  eight  years  in  which 
he  held  the  office  of  president,  in  order  to  ascertain  the 
important  measures  which,  after  having  achieved  such  a 
great  revolution  as  that  of  1800,  he  thought  proper  to  rec 
ommend  to  the  consideration  of  congress. 

In  the  first  of  those  messages  he  states,  as  a  matter  of 
thankfulness  to  Providence,  that  peace  existed  between  us 
and  the  powers  of  Europe  with  which  we  had  principal 
relations;  and  adds,  that  a  spirit  of  peace  prevailed  gene 
rally  among  our  Indian  neighbors ;  and  that  there  was 
but  one  exception  to  be  made  in  the  general  state  of  things, 
which  was,  a  denunciation  of  war  by  Tripoli,  one  of  the 
Barbary  powers.  He,  however,  wished  he  could  add  that 
our  situation  was  entirely  satisfactory  with  the  other  Bar 
bary  powers.  He  laid  before  congress  the  result  of  the 
census  that  had  recently  been  taken ;  he  said  there  was 
reasonable  ground  of  confidence  that  internal  taxes  might 
be  dispensed  with;  that  a  reduction  in  expenditures  might 
be  made ;  that  the  receipts  and  expenditures  would  be 
laid  before  the  houses;  that  the  secretary  of  war  had 
formed  a  statement  of  all  the  posts  and  stations  where 
garrisons  would  be  expedient,  and  the  number  of  men 
that  would  be  wanted ;  that  the  account  of  military  stores 
would  be  laid  before  congress ;  that  there  might  be  some 
difference  of  opinion  with  respect  to  the  extent  to  which 
naval  preparations  should  be  carried ;  that  it  was  doubtful 
whether  the  authority  given  for  establishing  sites  for  naval 
purposes  had  been  perfectly  understood ;  that  the  fortifi- 
21 


242  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

cations  in  our  harbors  present  considerations  of  great  dif 
ficulty,  some  of  them  being  on  a  scale  suited  to  the  advan 
tages  of  their  position,  the  efficacy  of  their  protection  and 
the  importance  of  the  points  within  it,  others  will  cost  so 
much  in  their  erection  and  maintenance,  and  requires 
such  a  force  to  garrison  them,  that  it  was  questionable 
what  was  best  to  be  done ;  that  agriculture,  manufactures, 
commerce  and  navigation  are  most  free  when  left  most  to 
individual  enterprise  ;  that  the  judiciary  system,  and  es 
pecially  that  portion  of  it  recently  erected,  would  of  course 
present  itself  to  the  consideration  of  congress,  and  whilst 
engaged  on  that  subject,  it  would  be  well  to  inquire 
whether  the  institution  of  juries  had  been  extended  to  all 
the  cases  involving  the  security  of  our  persons  and  prop 
erty  ;  that  he  could  not  omit  recommending  a  revisal  of 
the  naturalization  laws,  as  a  residence  of  fourteen  years 
was  a  denial  in  a  great  proportion  of  the  cases  of  those 
who  asked  it.  "  These,"  said  he,  "  fellow-citizens,  are  the 
matters  respecting  the  state  of  the  nation  which  I  have 
thought  of  importance  to  be  submitted  to  your  considera 
tion  at  this  time.  Some  others  of  less  moment,  or  not 
yet  ready  for  communication,  will  be  the  subject  of  sepa 
rate  messages." 

This  was  the  first  message  communicated  to  congress 
by  Mr.  Jefferson  after  the  great  revolution  of  which  he 
speaks  in  his  letter  to  judge  Roane  already  quoted,  which 
in  importance  he  considered  equal  to  that  of  1776.  But, 
strange  to  hear,  not  a  single  measure  of  any  moment  is 
proposed  for  adoption,  and  what  is  still  more  extraordinary, 
none  are  denounced  as  proper  to  be  repealed  on  the 
ground  of  their  being  of  monarchical  or  anti-republican 
character.  Not  a  suggestion  is  made  that  indicates  either 
talents  or  public  spirit;  in  short  nothing  is  recommended 
which  might  not  have  proceeded  from  a  mind  of  very  or- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  243 

dinary  compass  and  character,  and  in  the  most  quiet  and 
peaceable  times. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  second  annual  message  was  delivered 
at  the  opening  of  the  session  of  congress  in  December, 
1802,  and  is  still  more  barren  than  the  first.  He  first 
mentions  the  war  with  Tripoli,  and  that  more  ships  of 
war  had  been  ordered  to  the  Mediterranean  for  fear  the 
other  Barbary  powers  might  join  the  Tripolitans  ;  but  that 
later  intelligence  had  removed  those  apprehensions.  He 
then  states  that  a  convention  with  Georgia  had  been  rati 
fied  by  their  legislature,  and  a  re-purchase  of  the  Talassee 
country  had  been  made  of  the  Creeks.  He  gives  an  ac 
count  of  the  proceedings  with  the  Indians,  and  then  states 
the  receipts  into  the  treasury,  the  payment  towards  the 
pu-blic  debt;  that  some  of  the  states  had  paid  up  the  in 
ternal  taxes,  in  others  they  had  not;  that  by  avoiding 
false  objects  of  expense  he  expresses  the  opinion  that, 
without  internal  taxes  and  without  borrowing  money,  they 
were  able  to  make  large  payments  towards  extinguishing 
the  national  debt,  and  that  this  encouraged  the  government 
to  proceed  as  it  had  begun,  in  substituting  economy  for 
taxation.  He  then  alludes  to  the  treasury  accounts,  and 
states  that  no  change  is  deemed  necessary  in  the  military 
establishment;  recommends  a  review  of  the  militia  sys 
tem,  and  states  that  estimates  for  the  naval  department 
will  be  communicated  ;  and  then  recommends  the  forma 
tion  of  a  dry  dock,  for  the  purpose  of  laying  up  and  pre 
serving  the  ships  of  war.  He  then  alludes  to  the  general 
duties  of  the  government — which  are,  to  cultivate  peace 
and  maintain  commerce  and  navigation,  foster  fisheries, 
protect  the  manufactories  adapted  to  our  situation,  pre 
serve  the  faith  of  the  nation  by  an  exact  discharge  of  its 
debts  and  contracts,  expend  the  public  money  with  the  same 
care  and  economy  that  we  would  practice  with  our  own, 


244  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

impose  on  the  citizens  no  unnecessary  burdens,  keep  all 
things  within  the  pale  of  constitutional  powers,  and  cherish 
the  federal  union  as  the  only  rock  of  safety. 

The  session  of  congress  at  which  this  message  was  de 
livered,  completed  two  years  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  adminis 
tration  after  the  important  revolution  of  1800 ;  and  yet 
not  a  single  measure,  except  the  recommendation  of  a  dry 
dock,  of  a  general  national  character,  which  had  a  tenden 
cy  to  mark  the  era  as  in  any  way  distinguished  from  the 
preceding  administrations,  was  recommended ;  and  the  dry 
dock  was  ridiculed  as  a  useless  and  preposterous  measure, 
and  notwithstanding  his  great  popularity  and  influence 
with  his  party,  and  the  general  subserviency  of  both  bouses 
of  congress  to  him,  it  was  never  carried  into  effect. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  third  annual  message  was  delivered  on 
the  17th  of  October,  1803,  congress  having  met  earlier 
than  usual  on  that  year.  In  that  he  first  alludes  to  the  dif 
ficulties  which  had  arisen  with  Spain  respecting  the  right 
of  deposit  at  New  Orleans ;  and  then  informs  congress 
of  the  treaty  with  France  for  the  purchase  of  Louisiana ; 
of  the  purchase  of  the  country  belonging  to  the  tribe  of 
Kaskaskia  Indians ;  and  he  states  the  progress  of  improve 
ments  in  agriculture  and  household  manufactures  among 
other  tribes ;  that  the  small  vessels  for  the  Mediterranean 
service  had  been  sent  to  that  sea;  that  a  convention  had 
been  entered  into  with  Great  Britain  for  fixing  the  bound 
ary  line  on  our  north-eastern  and  north-western  angles,  to 
the  satisfaction  of  both  parties  ;  that  the  account  of  receipts 
and  expenditures  for  the  year  would  be  laid  before  con 
gress;  that  more  than  three  millions  of  the  public  debt 
had  been  paid,  exclusive  of  interest;  that  the  purchase  of 
Louisiana  would  add  thirteen  millions  to  that  debt;  that 
remittances  for  the  foreign  debt  had  been  made  without 
loss ;  that  fifty  thousand  dollars  appropriated  by  congress 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  245 

for  gun-boats  remained  unexpended;  that  he  had  seen 
with  concern  the  flames  of  war  lighted  up  again  in  Eu 
rope,  and  states  the  course  we  ought  to  pursue  towards 
the  belligerent  nations. 

This  document  preserves  the  same  general  character 
with  the  two  former  ones,  exhibiting  none  of  the  views  or 
talents  of  a  statesman,  nor  the  recommendation  of  any 
measure  which  showed  the  necessity,  or  even  expediency, 
of  the  revolution  of  1800. 

The  fourth  annual  message  from  Mr.  Jefferson  was  de 
livered  at  the  opening  of  the  session  of  congress  on  the 
8th  of  November,  1804.  It  first  mentions  with  satisfac 
tion  that  the  war  in  Europe  had  not  extended  to  other 
nations,  and  that  we  had  been  disturbed  less  on  the  ocean 
than  on  former  occasions ;  and  then  states  that  complaints 
had  been  received,  that  persons  residing  within  the  United 
States  had  undertaken  to  arm  merchant  vessels  and  force 
a  commerce  into  certain  ports  and  countries  in  defiance  of 
the  laws  of  those  countries,  and  that  he  did  not  doubt  con 
gress  would  adopt  measures  to  restrain  such  conduct  in 
future ;  that  the  law  authorizing  the  establishment  of  a 
district  and  port  of  entry  at  Mobile  had  been  misunder 
stood  by  Spain,  but  that  explanations  had  been  given 
which  it  was  expected  would  be  satisfactory;  that  Spain 
had  withdrawn  their  objections  to  the  validity  of  our  title 
to  Louisiana,  the  limits  remaining  for  settlement;  that 
with  the  nations  of  Europe  in  general  we  were  on  terms 
of  friendship,  and  that  we  had  received  assurances  from 
the  belligerents  of  the  friendly  feelings  which  are  due  to 
an  honest  neutrality  ;  that  the  energy  of  our  proceedings 
in  the  Mediterranean  he  trusted  would  reduce  the  barba 
rians  of  Tripoli  to  a  desire  for  peace  ;  that  the  bey  of  Tu 
nis  having  made  requisitions  unauthorized  by  treaty,  their 
rejection  had  produced  from  him  some  expressions  of  dis- 


246  THE     CHARACTER    OF 

content ;  that  peace  continued  with  the  other  powers  on 
that  coast ;  that  the  officers  of  the  temporary  government 
of  the  territory  of  Orleans  had  been  appointed;  that  the 
district  of  Louisiana  had  been  divided  into  subordinate 
districts,  and  a  commanding  officer  appointed  in  each; 
that- conferences  had  been  opened  with  the  Indian  tribes  in 
our  newly  acquired  limits  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 
a  good  understanding  and  neighborly  relations  with  them  ; 
that  an  important  relinquishment  of  native  title  had  been 
received  from  the  Delawares  on  this  side  the  Mississippi ; 
that  the  act  of  congress  of  February,  1803,  for  building  a 
number  of  gun-boats  was  in  a  course  of  execution,  and  he 
states  a  variety  of  considerations  which  will  have  due 
weight  with  congress  in  adding  to  their  number  from  year 
to  year,  as  experience  shall  test  their  utility ;  that  no  cir 
cumstance  had  occurred  since  the  previous  session  which 
called  for  an  increase  of  the  military  force ;  that  the  ac 
count  of  receipts  and  expenditures  would  be  laid  before 
the  houses ;  that  the  state  of  the  finances  fulfilled  his  ex 
pectations,  and  had  enabled  them  to  pay  three  millions  six 
hundred  thousand  dollars  of  the  national  debt;  that  the  rev 
enue  of  the  past  year  exceeded  that  of  the  preceding ;  and 
that  the  probable  receipts  of  the  ensuing  year  would  be 
sufficient  to  meet  the  demands  upon  the  treasury,  to  pay 
more  than  three  millions  under  the  British  and  French 
conventions,  and  to  advance  in  redeeming  the  funded  debt. 
Mr.  Jefferson's  fifth  message  was  delivered  on  the  third 
of  December,  1805 — the  first  session  of  congress  after  his 
re-election.  He  begins  with  noticing  the  yellow  fever 
which  had  prevailed  in  two  of  our  cities ;  and  then  states 
that  the  aspect  of  our  foreign  relations  had  considerably 
changed,  our  coasts  had  been  infested  by  private  armed 
vessels,  some  without  commissions  and  some  with  illegal 
commissions,  with  an  account  of  the  mischief  they  had 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  247 

done,  and  that  he  had  found  it  necessary  to  equip  a  force 
to  cruise  within  our  own  seas;  that  public  armed  ships 
had  also  been  hovering  on  our  coasts  under  color  of  seek 
ing  enemies,  to  the  great  annoyance  of  our  commerce  ; 
that  with  Spain  our  negotiations  for  a  settlement  of  differ 
ences  had  not  had  a  satisfactory  issue;  that  in  conse 
quence  of  the  seizure  of  our  citizens  and  the  plunder  of 
their  property,  he  had  ordered  our  troops  on  that  frontier 
to  be  in  readiness  to  protect  them,  and  to  repel  by  arms 
any  similar  aggressions  in  future ;  that  in  reviewing  these 
injuries,  the  moderation,  firmness  and  wisdom  of  the  legis 
lature  will  be  all  called  into  action,  but  should  any  nation 
deceive  itself  by  false  calculations,  we  must  join  in  the  un 
profitable  contest  of  trying  which  party  can  do  the  other 
the  most  harm  ;  that  the  first  object  would  be  to  place  our 
sea-port  towns  out  of  the  danger  of  insult,  for  which  pur 
pose  measures  had  been  taken  for  furnishing  them  with 
heavy  cannon,  and  to  aid  them  it  was  desirable  that  we 
should  have  a  competent  number  of  gun-boats;  that  con 
siderable  provision  had  been  made  in  materials  for  building 
seventy-four  gun  ships;  that  an  immediate  prohibition  of 
the  exportation  of  arms  and  ammunition  \vould  be  submitted 
to  congress ;  that  our  fellow-citizens  who  were  stranded 
on  the  coast  of  Tripoli  had  been  liberated ;  that  although 
there  were  still  some  misunderstandings  with  Tunis,  that 
friendly  discussions  with  their  ambassador,  just  arrived, 
could  not  fail  of  dissipating  them.  He  then  alludes  to  the 
law  providing  the  naval  peace  establishment,  fixing  the 
number  of  frigates  and  complement  of  men,  and  suggests 
his  views  on  the  subject ;  states  that  our  Indian  neighbors 
are  advancing  in  the  pursuits  of  agriculture  and  household 
manufacture,  and  that  purchases  of  land  had  been  made  of 
various  tribes  in  Ohio  and  elsewhere,  and  that  the  treaties 
would  be  laid  before  congress;  that  deputations  of  Indians 


248  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

from  Missouri,  and  other  places  beyond  the  Mississippi, 
had  come  to  the  seat  of  government ;  that  the  receipts  of 
the  treasury  for  the  year  were  more  than  thirteen  millions 
of  dollars  ;  that  congress  had,  in  November,  1803,  author 
ized  a  loan  of  one  million  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thou 
sand  dollars,  which  had  not  been  taken  up. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  sixth  annual  message  was  delivered  on 
the  second  of  December,  1806.  It  commences  with  a  re 
view  of  foreign  relations,  which  were  in  an  unsettled  con 
dition,  and  particularly  the  state  of  things  on  the  south 
western  border,  between  Louisiana  and  the  Mexican- terri 
tories.  It  then  states  that,  in  another  part  of  the  United 
States,  private  individuals  were  arming  and  organizing 
themselves,  contrary  to  law,  to  carry  on  a  military  expedi 
tion  against  the  territories  of  Spain,  that  he  had  taken 
measures,  by  proclamation  and  by  special  orders,  to  sup 
press  the  enterprise  and  to  arrest  and  bring  to  justice  its 
authors  and  abettors,  and  that  the  necessity  of  enlarging 
the  regular  force  will  be  a  subject  for  the  early  considera 
tion  of  congress ;  that  the  possession  of  both  banks  of  the 
Mississippi  rendered  it  necessary  to  provide  a  more  ade 
quate  security  for  that  point;  that  the  gun-boats  author 
ized  at  the  last  session  will  be  ready  for  service  in  the 
spring,  and  a  much  larger  number  will  be  wanted ;  that  a 
further  appropriation  will  be  necessary  for  repairing  ex 
isting  fortifications  and  erecting  other  works  to  obstruct  an 
enemy  in  approaching  our  sea-ports ;  that  though  the  laws 
have  provided  punishments  for  the  crimes  of  insurrection 
and  enterprise  on  the  public  peace,  it  is  suggested  that  it 
might  be  salutary  to  give  the  means  of  preventing  them,  and 
it  might  be  useful  to  give  the  power  to  prevent  those 
against  the  United  States,  as  well  as  against  a  foreign  na 
tion,  and  that  "  the  process  of  binding  to  the  observance  of 
the  peace  and  good  behavior,  could  it  be  extended  to  acts 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  249 

done  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  would  be 
effectual  in  some  cases,  where  the  offender  is  able  to  keep 
out  of  sight  every  indication  of  his  purpose  which  could 
draw  on  him  the  exercise  of. the  powers  now  given  by 
law ;  "  that  the  states  of  Barbary  seem  generally  disposed 
to  respect  our  peace  and  friendship ;  that  proofs  are  re 
ceived  of  the  growing  attachment  of  our  Indian  neighbors, 
and  of  their  disposition  to  place  all  their  interests  under 
our  patronage;  that  the  expedition  of  Messrs.  Lewis  and 
Clark,  for  exploring  the  river  Missouri,  had  been  attended 
with  all  the  success  that  could  have  been  expected ;  that 
the  attempt  to  explore  the  Red  river  had  not  been  equally 
successful ;  that  useful  additions  had  been  made  to  our 
knowledge  of  the  Mississippi  by  lieutenant  Pike,  who  had 
ascended  to  its  source.  It  recommends  measures  for  sup 
pressing  the  slave  trade  as  soon  as  the  constitutional  period 
arrives,  and  gives  the  amount  of  receipts  at  the  treasury; 
states  that  the  duties  composing  the  Mediterranean  fund 
would  cease  at  the  end  of  the  year,  and  recommends  their 
continuance  for  a  short  time  ;  that  before  long  there  will 
be  a  surplus  revenue,  and  suggests  the  appropriation  of  it 
to  public  improvements  as  an  expedient  mode  of  disposing 
of  it;  and  closes  with  a  suggestion  of  a  national  establish 
ment  for  education. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  seventh  annual  message  was  delivered 
on  the  27th  of  October,  1807.  It  commences  with  remarks 
on  the  difference  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain,  and  the  pains  that  had  been  taken  on  our  part  to 
have  them  adjusted,  and  then  adverts  to  the  attack  on  the 
frigate  Chesapeake,  and  the  orders  that  had  been  des 
patched  to  our  minister  in  London  to  demand  redress. 
It  then  states,  that  an  order  had  been  issued  by  the  British 
government,  interdicting  all  trade  by  neutrals  between  ports 
not  in  amity  with  them ;  that  our  differences  with  Spain  re- 


250  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

mained  unsettled ;  that  with  the  other  European  nations 
our  harmony  was  undisturbed  ;  that  peace  with  the  Barbary 
states  appeared  as  firm  as  at  any  former  period  ;  that  among 
our  Indian  neighbors  in  the  north-western  quarter,  some 
fermentation  was  observed,  threatening  the  continuance  of 
peace  ;  that  the  great  tribes  on  our  south-western  quarter 
appeared  tranquil  ;  it  states  the  manner  in  which  the  ap 
propriations  ^for  fortifications  had  been  applied,  and  to 
what  places  the  gun-boats  had  been  assigned,  and  suggests 
the  idea  that  the  seamen  of  the  United  States  may  be  for 
med  into  a  special  militia ;  that  the  moment  our  peace  was 
threatened,  he  deemed  it  indispensable  to  secure  a  greater 
provision  of  those  military  stores  with  which  our  maga 
zines  were  not  sufficiently  furnished  ;  that  whether  a  regu 
lar  army  was  to  be  raised,  must  depend  on  information  ex 
pected  to  be  received  ;  and  in  the  mean  time,  he  had  called 
upon  the  states  for  quotas  of  militia  to  be  in  readiness  ;  that 
the  enterprises  against  the  public  peace  which  were  believ 
ed  to  be  in  preparation  by  Aaron  Burr  and  his  associates, 
had  been  happily  defeated  ;  that  he  shall  lay  before  congress 
the  proceedings  and  the  evidence  exhibited  against  the  prin 
cipal  offenders  at  the  district  court  of  Virginia,  that  they 
might  judge  whether  the  defect  was  in  the  testimony,  in 
the  law  or  in  the  administration  of  the  law  ;  that  a  state 
ment  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  would  be  thereafter 
transmitted ;  and  makes  some  remarks  upon  the  disposition 
of  the  surplus  revenue. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  eighth  annual  message  was  delivered 
November  8,  1808.  It  commences  with  a  statement  of 
the  situation  of  our  affairs  in  relation  to  the  belligerent 
powers  of  Europe,  and  says,  that  the  documents  on  the 
subject  of  foreign  edicts  will  be  laid  before  congress.  It 
then  states,  that  the  affair  of  the  Chesapeake  had  not  been 
adjusted;  that  things  with  the  other  powers  of  Europe 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  251 

and  with  the  Barbary  states,  with  the  exception  of  Algiers, 
remained  as  they  were  ;  that  with  the  Indians  we  were  at 
peace.  It  then  alludes  to  the  manner  of  laying  out  the 
appropriations  for  fortifications ;  that  only  one  hundred  and 
three  gun-boats  had  been  built  during  the  year ;  that  under 
the  act  of  the  preceding  session  for  raising  an  additional 
military  force,  the  officers  had  been  appointed  for  the  pur 
poses  of  the  recruiting  service ;  that  it  had  not  been  thought 
necessary  to  call  for  detachments  or  volunteers  under  the 
laws  for  that  purpose  ;  that  it  was  incumbent  on  congress, 
at  every  session,  to  revise  the  condition  of  the  militia;  that 
arms  were  manufacturing  upon  a  larger  scale  than  before  ; 
that  the  suspension  of  our  foreign  commerce  had  impelled 
us  to  apply  a  portion  of  our  industry  and  capital  to  inter 
nal  manufactures  and  improvements,  and  there  was  little 
doubt  the  establishments  formed  for  that  purpose  would  be 
come  permanent;  that  the  accounts  of  receipts  and  expen 
ditures  were  not  made  up,  but  would  be  sent  in  thereafter; 
and  then  it  closes  with  his  taking  final  leave  of  the  gov 
ernment. 

The  foregoing  abstracts  exhibit  a  summary  view  of  Mr. 
Jefferson's  annual  communications  to  congress,  during  the 
whole  period  of  his  administration.  The  constitution  re 
quired  of  him,  from  time  to  time,  to  give  to  congress  in 
formation  of  the  state  of  the  Union,  and  to  "  recommend,  to 
their  consideration  such  measures  as  he  should  think  neces 
sary  and  expedient."  It  is  therefore  to  be  taken  for  grant 
ed,  that  he  gave  all  the  information,  and  recommended  all 
the  measures  for  their  adoption,  which  he  supposed  the 
exigencies  of  the  country  required.  Here,  then,  must  we 
look  for  the  evidence  of  his  talents  as  a  statesman,  as  well 
as  for  his  knowledge  of  the  provisions  and  principles  of  the 
constitution.  It  may  therefore  with  propriety  be  asked, 
what  is  the  amount  of  proof  which  his  official  communi 
cations  contain  of  ritiior  the  one  or  '.lie  other? 


252  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

Mr.  Jefferson,  as  has  been  shown,  was  constantly  in  the 
practice  of  calling  those  who  formed  the  constitution,  and 
controlled  the  affairs  of  the  nation  for  the  first  twelve 
years  under  it,  monarchists;  He  accused  them  of  wish 
ing  ultimately  to  transform  our  system  of  republicanism 
into  the  model  of  the  English  government — he  called  his 
own  election  a  revolution,  as  real  in  tbe  principles  of  the 
government,  as  that  of  1776  was  in  its  form — and  he  de 
nominates  the  controversy  he  was  carrying  on  against  the 
federalists,  a  war  ad  inter  necionem.  It  would  be  a  very 
extraordinary  thing,  if  all  this  was  intended  merely  for 
electioneering,  and  designed  only  for  the  promotion  of  his 
personal  popularity.  To  ascertain  the  truth  on  this  sub 
ject,  resort  must  be  had  to  his  official  life,  and  an  exami 
nation  must  be  made  into  his  official  acts  and  conduct.  If 
his  predecessors  in  office,  and  those  by  whom  they  were 
assisted  in  managing  the  public  concerns,  had  been  en 
gaged  for  twelve  years  in  attempting  to  change  the  char 
acter  of  our  government  from  republicanism  to  monarchy, 
with  the  design  ultimately  of  transforming  it  into  a  sys 
tem  like  that  of  Great  Britain,  that  is,  into  a  hereditary 
monarchy,  it  is  not  to  be  believed  that  there  would  not 
something  have  remained,  when  their  oversight  of  the 
public  affars  was  ended,  some  act  or  measure  which  would 
at  least  give  plausibility  to  such  a  charge.  But  evidence 
of  this  description  is  sought  for  in  vain  throughout  the 
whole  extent  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  annual  communications  to 
congress.  No  act  under  the  preceding  administrations  is 
mentioned  or  alluded  to  as  having  had  even  a^monarchical 
tendency,  nor  is  any  recommendation  contained  in  any  of 
them  intended  for  the  purpose  of  counteracting  their  ulti 
mate  object.  The  repeal  of  no  measure,  adopted  during 
the  twelve  first  years  of  the  government,  is  recommended, 
or  suggested,  on  this  specific  charge  of  its  being  of  a  mo- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  253 

narchical,  or  even  of  an  anti-republican  character.  On  the 
contrary,  the  great  measures  adopted  under  the  federal  ad 
ministrations,  and  particularly  under  that  of  general  Wash 
ington,  were  continued  and  relied  upon  for  the  promotion 
of  the  "  general  welfare,"  during  Mr.  Jefferson's  adminis 
tration,  as  they  had  been  while  his  predecessors  were  in 
office.  And  what  is  worthy  of  particular  notice,  not  a  sin 
gle  great  measure  of  general  national  policy  was  adopted 
under  his  administration,  nor  was  any  such  measure  even 
recommended  by  him ;  and  when  he  left  the  government, 
at  the  close  of  the  eight  years  of  his  administration,  it  is 
believed  that  not  a  single  act  of  the  kind  here  alluded  to, 
originating  with  him,  was  to  be  found  in  the  national 
statute  book.  He  did  indeed  recommend  the  system  of 
naval  defence  of  our  sea-ports  and  harbors  by  gun-boats, 
and  the  scheme  of  preserving  our  ships  of  war  from  decay 
by  laying  them  up  in  dry  docks.  The  first  was  adopted 
amidst  the  sneers  and  ridicule  of  the  community,  and  was 
kept  up  until  there  was  some  symptom  of  danger,  when 
they  speedily  passed  out  of  use  as  entirely  worthless  for 
the  purpose  for  which  they  were  built,  and  almost  as 
speedily  out  of  mind ;  and  for  many  years,  nobody  men 
tions,  or  even  thinks  of  them,  as  having  had  an  existence. 
The  dry  dock  project  was  still  more  unfortunate.  "  It  fell 
dead  from  the  press  ;  "  the  country  believing  that  ships 
were  made  to  float  and  not  to  be  hauled  up  and  sheltered  ; 
and,  of  course,  this  second  favorite  project  was  never  car 
ried  into  effect. 

That  Mr.  Jefferson  was  a  firm,  and  it  may  be  said,  an 
enthusiastic  believer  in  the  efficacy  of  the  plan  of  gun-boat 
defence,  may  be  proved  by  the  following  letter  to  Mr. 
Nicholson,  a  member  of  congress.  It  is  dated  January 
29,  1805,  and  is  to  be  found  in  the  4th  volume  of  his 
works,  page  28. 
22 


254  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

"  Mr.  Eppes  has  this  moment  put  into  my  hands  your 
letter  of  yesterday,  asking  information  on  the  subject  of  the 
gun-boats  proposed  to  be  built.  I  lose  no  time  in  commu 
nicating  to  you  fully  my  whole  views  respecting  them, 
premising  a  few  words  on  the  system  of  fortifications. 
Considering  the  harbors  which,  from  their  situation  and 
importance,  are  entitled  to  defence,  and  the  estimates  we 
have  seen  of  the  fortifications  planned  for  some  of  them, 
this  system  cannot  be  completed  on  a  moderate  scale  for 
less  than  fifty  millions  of  dollars,  nor  manned  in  time  of 
war  with  less  than  fifty  thousand  men,  and  in  peace  two 
thousand.  And  when  done,  they  avail  little ;  because  all 
military  men  agree,  that  wherever  a  vessel  may  pass  a  fort 
without  tacking  under  her  guns,  which  is  the  case  at  all 
our  sea-port  towns,  she  may  be  annoyed  more  or  less,  ac 
cording  to  the  advantages  of  the  position,  but  can  never 
be  prevented.  Our  own  experience  during  the  war  proved 
this  on  different  occasions.  Our  predecessors  have,  never 
theless,  proposed  to  go  into  this  system,  and  had  com 
menced  it.  But  no  law  requiring  us  to  proceed,  we  have 
suspended  it. 

"  If  we  cannot  hinder  vessels  from  entering  our  harbors, 
we  should  turn  our  attention  to  the  putting  it  out  of  their 
power  to  lie,  or  come  to,  before  a  town  to  injure  it.  Two 
means  of  doing  this  may  be  adopted  in  aid  of  each  other. 
1.  Heavy  cannon  on  traveling  carriages,  which  may  be 
moved  to  any  point  on  the  bank  or  beach  most  convenient 
for  dislodging  the  vessel.  A  sufficient  number  of  these 
should  be  lent  to  each  sea-port  town,  and  their  militia 
trained  to  them.  The  executive  is  authorized  to  do  this ; 
it  has  been  done  in  a  smaller  degree,  and  will  now  be  done 
more  competently. 

"  2.  Having  cannon  on  floating  batteries  or  boats,  which 
may  be  so  stationed  as  to  prevent  a  vessel  entering  the 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

harbor,  or  force  her  after  entering  to  depart.  There  are 
about  fifteen  harbors  in  the  United  States  which  ought  to 
be  in  a  state  of  substantial  defence.  The  whole  of  these 
would  require,  according  to  the  best  opinions,  two  hundred 
and  forty  gun-boats.  Their  cost  was  estimated  by  captain 
Rogers  at  two  thousand  dollars  each.  But  we  had  better 
say  four  thousand  dollars.  The  whole  would  cost  one 
million  of  dollars.  But  we  should  allow  ourselves  ten 
years  to  complete  it,  unless  circumstances  should  force  it 
sooner.  There  are  three  situations  in  which  the  gun-boats 
may  be.  1.  Hauled  up  under  a  shed,  in  readiness  to  be 
launched  and  manned  by  the  seamen  and  militia  of  the 
town  on  short  notice.  In  this  situation  she  costs  nothing 
but  an  enclosure,  or  a  sentinel  to  see  that  no  mischief  is 
done  to  her.  2.  Afloat,  and  with  men  enough  to  navigate 
her  in  harbor  and  take  care  of  her,  but  depending  on  re 
ceiving  her  crew  from  the  town  on  short  warning.  In 
this  situation,  her  annual  expense  is  about  two  thousand 
dollars,  as  by  an  official  estimate  at  the  end  of  this  letter. 
3.  Fully  manned  for  action.  Her  annual  expense  in  this 
situation  is  about  eight  thousand  dollars,  as  per  estimate 
subjoined.  When  there  is  general  peace,  we  should  prob 
ably  keep  about  six  or  seven  afloat  in  the  second  situa 
tion  ;  their  annual  expense  twelve  to  fourteen  thousand 
dollars ;  the  rest  all  hauled  up.  When  France  and  Eng 
land  are  at  war,  we  should  keep  at  the  utmost  twenty-five 
in  the  second  situation,  their  annual  expense  fifty  thousand 
dollars.  When  we  should  be  at  war  ourselves,  some  of 
them  would  probably  be  kept  in  the  third  situation,  at  an 
annual  expense  of  eight  thousand  dollars ;  but  how  many, 
must  depend  on  the  circumstances  of  the  war.  We  now 
possess  ten,  built  and  building.  It  is  the  opinion  of  those 
consulted,  that  fifteen  more  would  enable  us  to  put  every 
harbor  under  our  view  in  a  respectable  condition  ;  and  that 


256  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

this  should  limit  the  views  of  the  present  year.  This 
would  require  an  appropriation  of  sixty  thousand  dollars, 
and  I  suppose  that  the  best  way  of  limiting  it,  without  de 
claring  the  number,  as  perhaps  that  sum  would  build  more. 
I  should  think  it  best  not  to  give  a  detailed  report,  which 
exposes  our  policy  too  much.  A  bill,  with  verbal  explana 
tions,  will  suffice  for  the  information  of  the  house." 

Who  can  believe,  or  be  persuaded  to  indulge  the  idea 
for  a  moment,  that  a  man  whose  mind  was  occupied  and 
influenced  by  such  visionary  and  childish  whims  as  these, 
possessed  the  knowledge  or  had  the  enlarged  views  of  an 
able  and  enlightened  statesman  ?  Instead  of  which,  he  is 
found  constantly  brooding  over  idle  and  useless  projects, 
and  under  the  pretence  of  economy,  consulting  his  own 
popularity  and  furthering  his  own  schemes  of  personal  ag 
grandizement. 

Nothing  could  have  been  more  characteristic  of  this 
"  great  statesman,"  than  the  caution  at  the  close  of  this 
letter  against  a  detailed  report,  as  that  might  expose  our 
policy  too  much.  A  bill,  with  verbal  explanations,  would 
be  sufficient  for  the  information  of  the  house.  The  house 
were  the  body  from  which  the  committee,  to  whose  chair 
man  this  letter  was  addressed,  proceeded.  On  the  report 
of  that  committee,  the  house  of  course  must  rely  for  infor 
mation,  and  would  be  called  to  act.  Mr.  Jefferson's  great 
plan  of  political  operations  was  to  appeal,  on  all  occasions, 
to  the  sound  common  sense,  the  stern  republican  integrity, 
and  the  pure  spirit  of  patriotism  in  the  people.  One  would 
naturally  suppose,  that  he  would  have  at  least  as  much 
confidence  in  the  representatives  of  the  people,  especially 
as  the  majority  of  them  were  in  his  favor,  as  he  had  in  the 
people  themselves.  But  in  this  case  he  was  unwilling  to 
have  a  detailed  report  on  the  merits  of  his  gun-boat  project 
placed  before  the  representatives,  lest  it  should  expose  his 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  257 

policy  too  much.  A  verbal  report,  which  but  few  would 
comprehend,  and  none  would  be  able  to  carry  away,  or 
scan  with  too  much  strictness  and  severity,  would  be 
sufficient  for  the  house.  The  truth  undoubtedly  was,  that 
the  plan  was  a  subject  of  ridicule  even  among  his  friends 
and  partizans,  and  of  contempt  among  his  opponents ;  and 
he  wished  to  avoid,  as  far  as  possible,  not  merely  the  ex 
posure  of  his  policy  to  the  house  and  to  the  world,  but  to 
escape  the  sneers  and  strictures  of  those  who  viewed  the 
system  as  ridiculous  in  the  extreme. 

The  letter  from  which  the  foregoing  extract  was  made, 
was  dated,  it  will  be  observed,  in  January,  1805.  In  May, 
1809,  a  committee  was  appointed  by  the  senate,  to  inquire 
whether  it  was  expedient,  at  that  time,  to  make  any  modi 
fications  of  the  laws  relating  to  the  army  and  navy  of  the 
United  States.  That  committee  directed  their  chairman 
to  put,  among  others,  the  following  questions  to  the  secre 
tary  of  the  navy — 

"  How  many  gun-boats  have  been  built  under  the  exist 
ing  laws  ? 

"  What  has  been  the  average  or  aggregate  cost  of  build 
ing  them  ? 

"  What  will  be  the  probable  state  of  those  gun-boats  at 
the  end  of  one  year,  which  may  be  laid  up  unemployed  ? 

"  What  will  be  the  probable  state  of  those  at  the  end  of 
one  year,  which  may  be  kept  in  service,  on  the  coasts  or 
in  the  harbors  ?" 

To  these  inquiries  the  secretary  replied  on  the  9th  of 
June — 

"  There  have  been  built  under  the  existing  laws,  one 
hundred  and  seventy-six  gun-boats  and  bombs  ;  and  the 
average  cost  of  building  them  may  be  calculated  at  $9,000. 

"  As  to  the  probable  state  of  those  boats  at  the  end  of  one 
year,  which  may  be  laid  up,  or  unemployed,  I  will  observe 
22* 


258  THE  CHARACTER  OF 

that  with  all  the  care  that  can  be  taken  of  them,  they  will 
unavoidably  decay  in  a  greater  or  less  degree ;  those  built 
of  green,  will  of  course  decay  much  sooner  than  those 
built  of  seasoned  timber.  To  keep  a  gun-boat  in  a  state 
of  preparation  for  service,  we  shall  very  frequently  be  sub 
jected  to  the  expense  of  repairing  her  ;  an  expense  to  an 
amount  which  cannot  be  foreseen.  The  sails  and  stand 
ing  and  running  rigging,  at  present  belonging  to  those  laid 
up,  will,  probably,  at  the  end  of  one  year,  be  so  much  in 
jured  as  to  be  unfit  for  use ;  their  small  boats  and  water- 
casks,  unless  well  protected  from  the  rain  and  sun,  will 
sustain  considerable  injury  in  the  course  of  the  same  time  ; 
and  they  cannot  be  so  protected  without  expense.  If  a  gun 
boat  is  suffered  to  lie  in  port  for  one  year,  without  giving 
her  any  kind  of  repair,  she  will  probably  be  found  at  the 
expiration  of  that  year  wholly  unworthy  of  being  repaired. 

"  With  respect  to  those  kept  in  service,  they  also  will 
decay,  if  not  occasionally  repaired ;  though  it  is  observed 
by  professional  men,  that  vessels  in  service,  especially  in 
salt  water,  are  less  subject  to  decay  than  they  are  lying 
in  port,  and  universal  experience  does,  I  believe,  sanction 
the  same  idea." 

Mr.  Jefferson's  administration  closed  on  the  3d  of  March, 
1809.  It  is  very  apparent  that  up  to  that  time  he  had 
lost  none  of  his  attachment  to,  or  confidence  in,  the  gun 
boat  system.  In  his  last  annual  message  to  congress, 
which  was  in  December,  1808,  he  says,  "  Of  the  gun-boats 
authorized  by  the  act  of  December  last,  it  has  been  thought 
necessary  to  build  only  one  hundred  and  three  in  the  pres 
ent  year.  These  with  those  before  possessed,  are  suffi 
cient  for  the  harbors  and  waters  most  exposed,  and  the  res 
idue  will  require  little  time  for  their  construction  when  it 
shall  be  deemed  necessary."  At  the  end  of  three  months 
from  the  time  he  left  the  office  of  president,  and  under  the 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  259 

new  administration,  at  the  head  of  which  was  his  most  in 
timate,  most  confidential,  and  most  devoted  friend,  Mr. 
Madison,  the  scheme  appears  to  have  been  abandoned,  as 
little  better  than  worthless ;  and  from  that  time  forward  it 
sunk  into  contempt. 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  very  fond  of  indulging  in  visionary 
and  whimsical  speculations,  not  merely  in  mechanical  and 
agricultural  affairs,  but  in  the  science  of  politics  and  the 
concerns  of  government.  His  gun-boat  project,  one  of 
the  most  useless  and  absurd  of  all  his  vagaries,  was  a 
favorite  scheme  with  him ;  and  he  led  the  government  in 
to  a  heavy  expense  to  construct  these  vessels,  which  pro 
ved  to  be,  what  every  man  of  practical  good  sense  knew 
they  must  be,  of  no  use  whatever.  Who,  at  the  present 
time,  can  entertain  a  doubt,  that  he  was  grossly  deficient 
in  the  practical  qualifications  of  a  great  statesman  ? 

Mr.  Jefferson,  in  his  letter  to  Martin  Van  Buren,  which 
has  been  already  noticed  in  this  work,  when  alluding  to 
the  coolness  produced  between  him  and  general  Washing 
ton  by  the  appearance  of  the  letter  to  Mazzei,  says,  "  My 
last  parting  with  general  Washington  was  at  the  inaugura 
tion  of  Mr.  Adams,  in  March,  1797,  and  was  warmly  af 
fectionate  ;  and  I  never  had  any  reason  to  believe  any 
change  on  his  part,  as  there  certainly  was  none  on  mine." 
The  following  facts  may  serve  to  shew  what  credit  is  due 
to  this  last  assertion. 

In  volume  11  of  "the  Writings  of  George  Washing 
ton"  published  in  1836,  by  Jared  Sparks,  at  page  501, 
there  is  an  article  headed  thus, —  "Anonymous  letter 
to  George  Washington,  signed  with  the  fictitious  name  of 
John  Langhorne."  A  note  annexed  to  it  is  in  the  follow 
ing  words : — "  As  this  letter  is  signed  with  a  fictitious 
name,  it  is  of  no  other  importance  than  to  show  what  in 
sidious  means  were  adopted  by  the  enemies  of  Washing- 


260  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

ton  to  lead  him  into  a  snare  for  party  purposes.  The  per 
son  who  sent  for  his  answer  to  the  post  office  was  known ; 
but  whether  he  was  the  writer  of  this  letter,  or  only  acted 
as  an  agent  in  this  business,  was  not  ascertained."  Lang- 
horne's  letter  was  dated  "  Warren,  Albermarle  county, 
Sept.  25, 1797."  The  letter  to  Mazzei  was  first  published 
in  this  country  in  the  spring  of  1797 — a  few  months  before 
the  date  of  Langhorne's  letter.  General  Washington's  an 
swer  to  the  latter  is  dated  Oct.  15, 1797.  Although  he 
was  altogether  unsuspicious  that  the  Langhorne  letter  was 
fictitious,  and  intended  to  draw  him  into  a  correspondence 
from  which  his  enemies  might  obtain  something  which 
they  could  use  to  injure  his  reputation  and  destroy  his  pop 
ularity,  he  replied  to  it  with  that  extreme  caution  which  so 
strongly  marked  his  character  in  every  situation  in  life, 
and  the  plot  entirely  failed.  The  following  is  a  letter 
from  him  to  John  Nicholas. 

"  MOUNT  VERNON,  NOVEMBER  30,  1797. 
"  I  know  not  how  to  thank  you  sufficiently,  for  the  kind 
intention  of  your  obliging  favor  of  the  18th  instant.  If 
the  object  of  Mr.  Langhorne,  who  to  me  in  personal  char 
acter  is  an  entire  stranger,  was  such  as  you  suspect,  it  will 
appear  from  my  answer  to  his  letter  that  he  fell  far  short 
of  his  mark.  But  as  the  writer  of  it  seems  to  be  better 
known  to  you,  and  that  you  may  be  the  better  enabled  to 
form  a  more  correct  opinion  of  the  design,!  take  the  liber 
ty  of  transmitting  a  copy  of  it  along  with  the  answer.  If 
they  should  be  a  means  of  detecting  any  nefarious  plan  of 
those  who  are  assailing  the  government  in  every  shape 
that  can  be  devised,  I  shall  feel  happy  in  having  had  it  in 
my  power  to  furnish  them.  If  the  case  be  otherwise,  the 
papers  may  be  committed  to  the  flames,  and  the  transac 
tion  buried  in  oblivion.  To  confess  the  truth,  I  consider 
ed  Mr.  Langhorne  in  my  "  mind's  eye  "  a  pedant,  who 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  261 

was  desirous  of  displaying  the  flowers  of  his  pen.  In  ei 
ther  case,  I  would  thank  you  for  the  result  of  the  investi 
gation." 

On  the  8th  of  March,  1798,  General  Washington  wrote 
a  letter  to  Mr.  Nicholas,  of  which  the  following  is  an  ex 
tract — 

"  The  letter  which  you  did  me  the  favor  of  writing  to 
me  under  date  of  the  22d  ult.,  came  safe  to  hand.  Noth 
ing  short  of  the  evidence  you  have  adduced,  corroborative 
of  intimations  which  I  had  received  long  before  through 
another  channel,  could  have  shaken  my  belief  in  the  sin 
cerity  of  a  friendship  which  I  had  conceived  was  possessed 
for  me  by  the  person  to  whom  you  allude.  But  attempts 
to  injure  those  who  are  supposed  to  stand  well  in  the  es 
timation  of  the  people,  and  are  stumbling-blocks  in  the 
way,  by  misrepresenting  their  political  tenets,  thereby  to 
destroy  all  confidence  in  them,  are  among  the  means  by 
which  the  government  is  to  be  assailed,  and  the  constitu 
tion  destroyed.  The  conduct  of  this  party  is  systematized ; 
and  everything  that  is  opposed  to  its  execution  will  be 
sacrificed  without  hesitation  or  remorse,  if  the  end  can  be 
answered  by  it. 

"  If  the  person  whom  you  suspect  was  really  the  author 
of  the  letter  under  the  signature  of  John  Langhorne,  it  is 
not  at  all  surprising  to  me  that  the  correspondence  should 
have  ended  where  it  did ;  for  the  penetration  of  that  man 
would  have  perceived  by  the  first  glance  at  the  answer 
that  nothing  was  to  be  drawn  from  that  mode  of  attack. 
In  what  form  the  next  insidious  attempts  may  appear  re 
mains  to  be  discovered.  But  as  the  attempts  to  explain 
away  the  constitution  and  weaken  the  government  are 
now  become  so  open,  and  the  desire  of  placing  the  affairs 
of  this  country  under  the  influence  and  control  of  a  for 
eign  nation  is  so  apparent  and  strong,  it  is  hardly  to  be  ex- 


262  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

pected  that  a  resort  to  covert  means  to  effect  these  objects 
will  be  longer  regarded." 

The  person  alluded  to  as  the  object  of  Mr.  Nicholas's 
suspicion  in  the  foregoing  letter,  is  said  in  a  note  to  have 
been  Mr.  Jefferson. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  from  general 
Washington  to  Bushrod  Washington,  dated  August  12, 
1798— 

"  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  7th  inst.,  giving  an 
extract  of  Mr.  Nicholas's  letter  to  you.  With  respect  to 
the  request  contained  in  it,  I  leave  the  matter  entirely  to 
his  own  discretion,  with  your  advice  to  advance  or  halt, 
according  to  the  tenableness  of  his  ground  and  circum 
stances. 

"  If  he  could  prove  indubitably  that  the  letter  addressed 
to  me  with  the  signature  of  Johri  Langhorne  was  a  forge 
ry,  no  doubt  would  remain  in  the  mind  of  any  one  that  it 
was  written  with  a  view  to  effect  some  nefarious  purpose. 
And  if  the  person  he  suspects  is  the  real  author  or  abettor, 
it  would  be  a  pity  not  to  expose  him  to  public  execration 
for  attempting,  in  so  dishonorable  a  way,  to  obtain  a  dis 
closure  of  sentiments  of  which  some  advantage  could  be 
taken.'''  (Washington's  Writings,  vol.  2,  page  289.) 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  Mr.  Sparks  did  not  pub 
lish  Mr.  Nicholas's  tetter  to  general  Washington  on  this 
subject,  as  it  undoubtedly  contained  the  reasons  why  he 
suspected  the  Langhorne  letter  was  written  by  Mr.  Jeffer 
son  himself,  or  by  some  other  person  with  his  knowledge 
or  connivance  and  for  his  own  purposes.  It  is  stated  that 
the  person  who  called  at  the  post-office  for  general  Wash 
ington's  answer  was  known ;  but  it  is  said  not  to  have 
been  ascertained  whether  he  acted  as  principal  or  agent. 
The  letter  from  Langhorne  bears  date  at  Warren,  Albe- 
marle  county,  which  was  the  county  in  which  Mr.  Jeffer- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  263 

son  resided.  General  Washington's  feelings  must  have 
been  highly  excited,  knowing  as  he  did  that  Mr.  Nicholas 
believed  Mr.  Jefferson  to  have  been  the  author  of  that 
letter,  when  he  said,  "  If  the  person  he  suspects  is  the  real 
author  or  abettor,  it  would  be  a  pity  not  to  expose  him  to 
public  execration  for  attempting,  in  so  dishonorable  a  way, 
to  obtain  a  disclosure  of  sentiments  of  which  some  advan 
tage  might  be  taken" 

Enough,  however,  is  disclosed  in  these  letters  to  show 
that  the  cordiality  of  friendship,  which  for  a  long  time 
general  Washington  entertained  for  Mr.  Jefferson,  did  not 
hold  out  to  the  end  of  his  life ;  and  to  satisfy  any  reason 
able  mind  that  Mr.  Jefferson  was  the  secret  and  deadly 
enemy  of  General  Washington,  and  made  use  of  all  the 
means  within  his  power  to  undermine  his  popularity  and 
destroy  his  reputation.  Mr.  Jefferson  himself  acknowl 
edges,  in  a  passage  already  quoted  from  his  Ana,  that 
general  Washington's  feelings  had  become  alienated  from 
him  personally,  as  well  as  from  the  republicans  generally. 


264  THE    CHARACTER   OF 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  feelings  on  his  return  from  France  in  1789— Found 
here  a  preference  for  kingly  government  prevalent — Mr.  Jef 
ferson  an  ambitious  man — Called  himself  a  republican  and  his 
opponents  monarchists — Monarchy  talked  of  at  dinner  parties — 
Attacks  upon  Hamilton — Asserts  that  Hamilton  introduced  a 
draft  of  a  constitution  to  the  convention,  for  a  monarchy — Letter 
from  Hamilton  to  T.  Pickering  on  his  proposition  for  a  constitu 
tion — No  monarchical  feature  in  it — The  charge  of  monarchical 
principles  in  the  federalists  traced  by  Jefferson  to  the  conven 
tions  of  1786  and  1787 — Judge  Marshall's  notice  of  the  conven- 
tion  of  1787 — Names  of  some  of  the  principal  members  of  that 
body — Mr.  Jefferson's  artful  manner  of  establishing  his  claim 
to  a  republican  character — Letter  to  R.  M.  Johnson — Conversa 
tion  with  general  Washington — Character  of  the  early  federal 
ists — Great  courage  necessary  to  attempt  the  destruction  of  gen 
eral  Washington's  character. 

HAVING,  as  has  been  seen,  devised  his  general  plan  for 
the  formation  of  his  party,  almost  immediately  after  his 
return  to  the  United  States  in  1789,  and  upon  entering 
upon  the  duties  of  the  office  of  secretary  of  state,  Mr.  Jef 
ferson,  by  his  own  account,  began  to  carry  it  into  execu 
tion  in  good  earnest.  "  I  returned,"  says  he,  "  from  that 
mission  in  the  first  year  of  the  new  government,  having 
landed  in  Virginia  in  December,  1789,  and  proceeded  to 
New  York  in  March,  1790,  to  enter  on  the  office  of  secre 
tary  of  state.  Here  certainly  I  found  a  state  of  things 
which,  of  all  I  had  ever  contemplated,  I  the  least  expected. 
I  had  left  France  in  the  first  year  of  her  revolution,  in  the 
fervor  of  natural  rights  and  zeal  for  reformation.  My 
conscientious  devotion  to  these  rights  could  not  be  height- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  265 

ened,  but  it  had  been  aroused  and  excited  by  daily  exer 
cise.  The  president  received  me  cordially,  and  my  col 
leagues  and  the  circle  of  principal  citizens  apparently  with 
welcome.  The  courtesies  of  dinner-parties  given  me,  as 
a  stranger  newly  arrived  among  them,  placed  me  at  once 
in  their  familiar  society.  But  I  cannot  describe  the  won 
der  and  mortification  with  which  the  table  conversation 
filled  me.  Politics  were  the  chief  topic,  and  a  preference 
of  kingly  over  republican  government  was  evidently  the 
favorite  sentiment.  An  apostate  I  could  not  be,  nor  yet  a 
hypocrite  ;  and  I  found  myself,  for  the  most  part,  the  only 
advocate  on  the  republican  side  of  the  question,  unless 
among  the  guests  there  chanced  to  be  some  member  of 
that  party  from  the  legislative  houses.  Hamilton's  finan 
cial  system  had  then  passed.  It  had  two  objects;  1.  As 
a  puzzle  to  exclude  popular  understanding  and  inquiry ; 
2.  As  a  machine  for  the  corruption  of  the  legislature;  for 
he  avowed  the  opinion  that  man  could  be  governed  by  one 
of  two  motives  only — force  or  interest ;  force,  he  observed, 
in  this  country  was  out  of  the  question,  and  the  interests, 
therefore,  of  the  members  must  be  laid  hold  of  to  keep  the 
legislature  in  unison  with  the  executive." 

Notwithstanding  a  constant  affectation  of  humility,  a 
disposition  to  avoid  office,  and  the  frequent  declaration  of 
a  wish  to  retire  to  private  life,  probably  there  was  not  a 
more  ambitious  man  within  the  compass  of  the  Union, 
His  objections  to  the  constitution  at  a  very  early  period 
had  so  far  vanished  that  he  manifested  no  serious  objec 
tion  to  being  placed,  or  to  use  his  own  expression  in  his 
letter  to  the  New  Haven  merchants,  to  place  himself  at 
the  head  of  the  government.  Even  his  apprehensions  of 
danger  from  the  re-eligibility  of  the  president,  and  his  ar 
dent  attachment  to  his  lucerne,  his  potatoes,  and  his  grand 
children,  did-not  deter  him  from  suffering  himself  to  be 
23 


266  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

elected  the  second  time.  To  prosecute  his  ambitious  pur 
poses  with  the  greater  prospect  of  success,  he  set  himself 
up  as  the  head  of  a  party ;  not  willing  to  becalled  an  anti- 
federalist,  he  dubbed  himself  a  republican,  branded  his  op 
ponents  as  monarchists,  arid  commenced  his  career  in  elec 
tioneering  and  intrigue  almost  immediately  upon  landing 
in  the  country  from  his  mission  to  France.  His  outset  on 
that  career  is  described  in  the  passage  above  quoted  from 
his  "Ana."  His  success  will  appear  in  the  future  account 
of  his  rise  to  the  highest  station  under  the  constitution,  and 
in  the  course  and  character  of  his  administration  of  the 
government. 

By  Mr.  Jefferson's  statement,  in  the  quotation  just  made, 
such  progess  had  the  monarchical  spirit  made  among  the 
people  of  this  country,  and  especially  at  the  seat  of  gov 
ernment,  that  immediately  after  the  organization  of  the 
new  government,  and  at  dinner  parties  to  vihich  he  was  in 
vited  in  the  city  of  New  York,  politics  were  the  chief 
topic  of  conversation  at  table,  in  which  a  preference  of 
kingly  over  republican  government  was  evidently  the  fa 
vorite  sentiment ;  and  as  he  could  not  be  either  an  apos 
tate  or  a  hypocrite,  he  found  himself,  for  the  most  part,  the 
only  advocate  on  the  republican  side  of  the  question,  un 
less  there  happened  to  be  among  the  guests  a  member  of 
that  party  from  the  legislative  houses — meaning  the  two 
houses  of  congress.  This  representation  is  certainly  inten 
ded  to  convey  the  idea,  that  a  great  proportion  of  that  class 
of  the  inhabitants  of  that  city,  who  attended  dinner-par 
ties  which  were  given  to  him,  (he  being  an  open,  avowed 
republican  according  to  his  own  account,)  were  in  favor  of 
changing  the  government  of  this  country,  even  before  an 
experiment  had  been  made  of  the  new  republican  system, 
into  a  monarchy ;  and  this  sentiment,  so  odious  to  the  peo 
ple  of  the  United  States,  according  to  this  account,  was 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  267 

the  subject  of  common,  familiar,  undisguised  conversa 
tion,  in  mixed  companies,  and  on  convivial  occasions  !  Is 
there  any  man,  even  of  ordinary  understanding,  who  is 
credulous  enough  to  believe  this?  It  will  constantly  be 
borne  in  mind,  that  this  account  was  made  up,  and  prepar 
ed  for  posterity,  in  the  year  1818,  at  the  very  time  Mr. 
Jefferson  was  providing  materials  for  the  use  of  future  gen 
erations,  when  they  should  look  back  to  the  early  history 
of  their  country  and  its  government,  for  the  purpose  of 
forming  an  estimate  of  the  characters  of  the  men  who  had 
made  a  conspicuous  figure  in  its  early  annals. 

No  part  of  this  personal  record  is  more  remarkable,  than 
the  attempt  to  stigmatize  the  reputation  of  Alexander  Ham 
ilton — the  man  of  all  others  who  he  appears  to  have  con 
sidered  as  standing  the  most  directly  in  his  way,  and  there 
fore  the  more  necessary  to  be  removed. 

Accordingly,  Mr.  Jefferson  took  frequent  opportunities 
to  attack  his  principles,  as  being  not  only  opposed  10  repub 
licanism,  but  as  being  monarchical  in  an  ultra  degree — that 
is,  contending  that  a  monarchy  founded  upon  the  principle 
of  corruption  was  the  best  and  most  practicable  system 
of  government.  In  a  passage  already  quoted  from  the 
"Ana"  Mr.  Jefferson  asserts,  that  Hamilton's  financial 
system  had  two  objects  in  view — 1.  It  was  intended  to  be 
"  a  puzzle  to  exclude  popular  understanding  and  inquiry  ; 
2.  To  be  a  machine  for  corrupting  the  legislature.  And," 
he  adds, "  with  grief  and  shame  it  must  be  acknowledged 
that  his  machine  was  not  without  effect ;  that  even  in  this, 
the  birth  of  our  government,  some  members  were  found 
sordid  enough  to  bend  their  duty  to  their  interests,  and  to 
look  after  personal,  rather  than  public  good."  A  more  un 
founded,  and  of  course  a  more  malicious  slander  was  prob 
ably  never  uttered.  Designating  nobody,  the  charge  is 
made  in  such  general  terms,  that  it  may  with  equal  pro- 


268  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

priety  be  applied,  as  the  imagination  of  different  individu 
als  may  lead  them,  to  all  the  members  of  congress  who 
were  in  favor  of  the  adoption  of  general  Hamilton's  finan 
cial  plan — or  in  other  words,  to  the  federal  members  of 
both  houses  of  congress.  Pursuing  his  system  of  slander, 
he  in  the  first  place  attempts  to  establish  the  charge  of  mo 
narchical  principles  against  general  Hamilton,  and  then 
transfers  it  to  the  principal  federalists  through  the  country. 
But  Mr.  Jefferson  not  only  accused  general  Hamilton  of 
being  a  monarchist  in  principle,  but  he  asserts  that  he  ac 
tually  introduced  to  the  convention  of  1787,  the  draft  of  a 
constitution  for  the  establishment  of  a  monarchical  govern 
ment  over  the  United  States.  This  charge  was  often 
made  against  that  gentleman  when  he  belonged  to  general 
Washington's  cabinet,  and  was  circulated,  with  great  zeal, 
assiduity  and  confidence,  throughout  the  country,  for  the 
purpose  of  rendering  him  unpopular,  for  the  purpose  of 
destroying  his  influence.  The  imputation  of  entertaining 
monarchical  principles,  and  of  secretly  or  openly  plotting 
to  overthrow  the  republican  system,  and  to  substitute  a 
monarchy  in  its  place,  was  ihe  basis  of  Mr.  Jefferson's 
electioneering  against  the  federalists,  and  of  his  intrigues 
to  place  himself  at  the  head  of  the  government.  In  this 
he  acted  with  his  usual  address,  and  with  the  success 
which  customarily  attended  his  exertions  to  depress  his 
opponents,  and  to  elevate  himself.  It  is,  however,  a  remark 
able  fact  in  the  history  of  this  country,  and  one  not  very 
creditable  to  the  political  integrity  and  virtue  of  the  people 
of  this  republic,  that  a  man  who  had  as  much,  and  per 
haps  more  agency  in  forming  the  constitution,  and  procur 
ing  its  adoption  than  any  individual  in  the  Union,  should 
be  deprived  of  the  popularity  and  influence  which  his  dis 
tinguished  talents,  his  great  services,  and  his  unwearied 
efforts  to  promote  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  coun- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  269 

try,  justly  entitled  him  to,  and  this  by  a  man  who  had  no 
agency  in  the  formation  or  adoption  of  the  constitution, 
but  who,  on  a  variety  of  grounds,  was  decidedly  opposed 
to  it. 

That  the  charge  was  without  foundation,  will  appear  by 
the  following  document,  furnished  by  general  Hamilton  to 
his  friend  Timothy  Pickering ;  and  by  the  latter,  published 
to  the  world  as  a  refutation  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  oft  repeated 
charge  against  the  writer  of  the  letter. 

Letter  from  Alexander  Hamilton  to  Timothy  Pickering. 
"  NEW  YORK,  SEPTEMBER  16,  1803. 

"  My  dear  sir — I  will  make  no  apology  for  my  delay 
in  answering  your  inquiry  some  time  since  made,  because 
I  could  offer  none  which  would  satisfy  myself.  I  pray 
you  only  to  believe  that  it  proceeded  from  anything  rather 
than  want  of  respect  or  regard.  I  shall  now  comply  with 
your  request. 

"  The  highest  toned  propositions  which  I  made  in  the 
convention,  were  for  a  president,  senate  and  judges  during 
good  behavior — a  house  of  representatives  for  three  years. 
Though  I  would  have  enlarged  the  legislative  power  of 
the  general  government,  yet  I  never  contemplated  the  abo 
lition  of  the  state  governments;  but,  on  the  contrary,  they 
were,  in  some  particulars,  constituent  parts  of  my  plan. 

"  This  plan  was  in  my  conception  conformable  with  the 
strict  theory  of  a  government  purely  republican ;  the  es 
sential  criteria  of  which  are,  that  the  principal  organs  of 
the  executive  and  legislative  departments  be  elected  by  the 
people,  and  hold  their  offices  by  a  responsible  and  tempo 
rary  defeasible  tenure. 

"  A  vote  was  taken  on  the  proposition  respecting  the 
executive.  Five  states  were  in  favor  of  it ;  among  these 
Virginia;  and  though  from  the  manner  of  voting,  by  dele- 


270  THE   CHARACTER  OF 

gations,  individuals  were  not  distinguished,  it  was  morally 
certain,  from  the  known  situation  of  the  Virginia  mem. 
bers,  (six  in  number,  two  of  them,  Mason  and  Randolph, 
professing  popular  doctrines,)  that  Madison  must  have  con 
curred  in  the  vote  of  Virginia.  Thus,  if  I  sinned  against 
republicanism,  Mr.  Madison  was  not  less  guilty. 

"  may  truly  then  say,  that  I  never  proposed  either  a 
president  or  senate  for  life ;  and  that  I  neither  recommend 
ed  nor  meditated  the  annihilation  of  the  state  govern 
ments. 

"  And  I  may  add,  that  in  the  course  of  the  discussions 
in  the  convention,  neither  the  propositions  thrown  out  for 
debate,  nor  even  those  voted  in  the  earlier  stages  of  delib 
eration,  were  considered  as  evidences  of  a  definitive  opin 
ion  in  the  proposer  or  voter.  It  appeared  to  me  to  be  in 
some  sort  understood,  that  with  a  view  to  free  investiga 
tion,  experimental  propositions  might  be  made,  which  were 
to  be  received  merely  as  suggestions  for  consideration. 

"  Accordingly  it  is  a  fact,  that  my  final  opinion  was 
against  an  executive  during  good  behavior,  on  account  of 
the  increased  danger  to  the  public  tranquillity  incident  to 
the  election  of  a  magistrate  of  this  degree  of  permanency. 
In  the  plan  of  the  constitution  which  I  drew  up  while  the 
convention  was  sitting,  and  which  I  communicated  to  Mr. 
Madison  about  the  close  of  it,  perhaps  a  day  or  two  after, 
the  office  of  president  has  no  greater  duration  than  for 
three  years. 

"  This  plan  was  predicated  upon  these  bases.  1.  That 
the  political  principles  of  the  people  of  this  country  would 
endure  nothing  but  republican  governments.  2.  That  in 
the  actual  situation  of  the  country,  it  was  in  itself  right 
and  proper  that  the  republican  theory  should  have  a  fair 
and  full  trial.  3.  That  to  such  a  trial  it  was  essential  that 
the  government  should  be  so  constructed  as  to  give  it  all 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON,  271 

the  energy  and  stability  reconcilable  with  the  principles  of 
that  theory. 

"  These  were  the  genuine  sentiments  of  my  heart,  and 
upon  them  I  acted. 

"  I  sincerely  hope  that  it  may  not  hereafter  be  discover 
ed,  that  through  want  of  sufficient  attention  to  the  last  idea, 
the  experiment  of  republican  government,  even  in  this 
country,  has  not  been  as  complete,  as  satisfactory,  and  as 
decisive  as  could  be  wished. 

Very  truly,  dear  sir,  your  friend  and  servant, 

A.  HAMILTON* 

TIMOTHY  PICKERING,  ESQ." 

This  letter,  containing  the  explanation  of  general  Ham 
ilton's  views  on  the  general  subject,  is  marked  by  the  open, 
manly  frankness  which  formed  a  striking  trait  it  his  char 
acter.  No  man  ever  lived  whose  mind  was  more  perfect 
ly  free  from  dissimulation  and  artifice,  no  man  ever  de 
spised  cunning  and  hypocrisy  more  thoroughly  and  abso 
lutely  than  general  Hamilton.  There  is  but  little  danger 
of  mistake  in  saying,  that  he  never  kept  a  secret  record  of 
private  conversations,  and  still  less  in  expressing  the  opin 
ion,  that  he  never  sat  down  deliberately  to  collect  materials^ 
and  reduce  them  to  writing,  in  the  shape  of  "Ana"  for  the 
purpose  of  elevating  his  own  character,  or  slandering  the  rep 
utations  of  others.  Nothing  could  have  been  more  natural, 
and  certainly  nothing  could  have  been  more  proper  or 
useful,  than  for  any  member  of  the  convention  to  throw  out 
topics  for  examination  and  discussion,  for  in  no  other  way 
could  it  have  been  expected  that  the  sentiments  of  so  large 
a  body  of  men,  and  containing  such  a  variety  of  characters, 
could  ever  have  been  ascertained,  and  eventually  united  in 
a  general  system  of  government — one  that  would  meet  the 
approbation  of  the  whole.  There  would  have  been  noth- 


272  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

ing  more  than  this  in  the  suggestion  of  general  Hamilton, 
even  if  it  had  gone  the  length  which  Mr.  Jefferson  states 
it  to  have  done.  But  it  fell  far  short  of  that  length. 
There  was  no  monarchical  feature  in  his  suggestion.  It 
related  merely  to  the  tenure  of  the  offices  of  president, 
senators,  and  judges — it  was  thrown  out  for  discussion  ; 
and  upon  discussion,  he  became  convinced  that  it  would 
not  answer,  and  accordingly  relinquished  it.  To  the  pro 
visions  on  these  subjects  which  were  finally  adopted  by  the 
convention  he  gave  his  assent  and  signed  the  constitution  ; 
and  when  it  was  submitted  to  the  convention  of  his  state,  it 
was  probably  more  owing  to  his  exertions  than  to  those  of 
any  other  person,  that  it  was  approved  and  adopted.  Had 
the  efforts  of  George  Clinton,  John  Lansing,  Jr.,  Melanc- 
thon  Smith,  and  other  zealous  friends  and  partizans  of  Mr. 
Jefferson,  succeeded  in  preventing  its  adoption  by  that 
powerful  state,  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  the  present 
national  government  would  have  ever  been  established. 
And  yet,  under  the  influence  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  opinions 
and  example,  he,  and  those  of  his  partizans  whose  names 
have  just  been  mentioned,  who  in  the  state  of  New  York, 
exerted  themselves  to  the  utmost  to  prevent  the  adoption 
of  the  constitution,  were  hailed  as  republicans,  and  Alex 
ander  Hamilton  was  stigmatized  and  reviled  as  a  mo 
narchist  and  an  enemy  to  republican  freedom. 

This  is  believed  to  be  a  just  and  correct  account  of  the 
origin  and  object  of  the  charge  of  monarchical  principles 
against  the  federalists.  By  Mr.  Jefferson,  it  is  traced  back 
to  the  two  conventions  of  1786  and  1787.  How  far  it  was 
applicable  to  the  former  has  been  examined.  There  is 
every  reason  to  believe  it  was  equally  unfounded  when 
alleged  against  the  latter.  In  the  first  place,  the  delegates 
to  the  convention  of  1787,  were  appointed  by  the  legisla 
tures  of  the  several  states.  They  were  men  of  the  highest 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  273 

consideration  in  these  states,  well  known  for  their  attach 
ment  to  their  country,  and  highly  esteemed  in  their  sever 
al  communities  for  integrity,  public  spirit,  and  talents. 
Among  them  were  men  who  had  fought  the  battles  of 
their  country  through  the  war  of  independence,  and  others 
whose  wisdom,  firmness,  patriotism  and  virtue,  had  di 
rected  and  animated  the  councils  of  the  nation  during  that 
most  interesting  and  trying  period.  In  short,  neither  this 
country,  nor  any  other,  ever  saw  a  more  able,  public  spirit 
ed,  enlightened  and  dignified  assembly.  It  requires  strong 
er  evidence  than  Mr.  Jefferson's  hearsay  testimony,  or  even 
his  own  declaration,  to  make  the  world  believe  that  there 
was  a  monarchical  spirit,  or  even  a  single  monarchist,  in 
that  august  body.  No  other  evidence  of  the  fact  has  thus 
far  appeared;  and  after  the  lapse  of  half  a  century,  there 
is  very  little  probability  that  it  ever  will  appear.  In  his 
Life  of  Washington,  when  noticing  this  subject,  chief  jus 
tice  Marshall  remarks — 

"  On  the  great  principles  which  should  constitute  the 
basis  of  their  system,  not  much  contrariety  of  opinion  is 
understood  to  have  prevailed.  But  on  the  various  and  in 
tricate  modifications  of  those  principles,  an  equal  degree 
of  harmony  was  not  to  be  expected.  More  than  once, 
there  was  reason  to  fear  that  the  rich  harvest  of  national 
felicity,  which  had  been  anticipated  from  the  ample  stock 
of  worth  collected  in  the  convention,  would  all  be  blasted 
by  the  rising  of  that  body  without  effecting  the  object  for 
which  it  was  formed.  At  length  the  high  importance 
which  was  attached  to  union  triumphed  over  local  inter 
ests  ;  and  on  the  17th  of  September,  that  constitution 
which  has  been  alike  the  theme  of  panegyric  and  invec 
tive,  was  presented  to  the  American  world." 

Either  the  account  which  judge  Marshall  here  gives  of 
the  state  of  opinion  in  the  convention  "  on  the  great  princi- 


274  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

pies  which  should  constitute  the  basis  of  their  system,"  is 
not  correct,  or  Mr.  Jefferson's  charge  against  those  mem 
bers  of  it  who  formed  what  he  called  the  same  party  who 
were  in  favor  of  monarchy  in  the  convention  at  Annapo 
lis,  is  entirely  unfounded.  He  has  not  troubled  himself  so 
far  as  to  give  the  names  of  those  of  whom  this  party  was 
composed  in  either  convention.  If,  however,  they  existed 
in  the  convention  of  1787,  the  world  will  not  readily  be 
lieve  that  they  will  be  found  among  such  men  as  George 
Washington,  John  Langdon,  Rufus  King,  Roger  Sherman, 
William  Livingston,  William  Patterson,  Benjamin  Frank 
lin,  John  Dickinson,  James  Madison,  Jun.,  John  Rutledge, 
and  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney.  These  persons,  with 
twenty-seven  others,  signed  the  constitution,  and  of  course 
the  whole  thirty-eight  must  have  been  present  during  the 
session,  witnessed  the  propositions  made,  the  projects  of 
fered,  and  heard  the  discussions  that  occurred.  And  yet 
not  one  of  them,  as  far  as  is  known,  has  ever  asserted  the 
existence  of  a  monarchical  party  in  the  convention,  or  of 
any  effort  to  introduce  or  recommend  any  other  than  a  re 
publican  system.  Nor  can  any  reasonable  person  believe 
that  such  a  party,  or  such  a  plot,  could  have  existed  there, 
without  its  coming  to  the  knowledge  of  some,  at  least,  if 
not  all  the  members  of  the  convention;  by  some  of  whom 
the  evidence  of  the  fact  would  have  been  published  to  the 
country,  without  leaving  a  matter  of  so  much  importance 
to  be  brought  out,  after  the  lapse  of  thirty  years,  through 
such  a  questionable  channel  of  communication  as  Mr.  Jef 
ferson's  "Ana." 

It  has  been  seen,  in  the  course  of  this  work,  in  what  a 
sly  and  artful  manner  Mr.  Jefferson  entered  upon  the  task 
of  establishing  himself  as  the  plain,  simple-hearted,  un 
affected  republican,  and  the  equally  sincere  and  devoted 
friend  of  republicanism.  On  this  basis  he  erected  the  great 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  275 

fabric-  of  his  popularity,  influence  and  power.  At  the  same 
time,  he  strengthened  his  claim  to  these  characteristics  by 
accusing  those  who  were  principally  concerned  in  forming 
and  adopting  the  constitution,  and  in  organizing  and  estab 
lishing  the  government,  with  being  monarchists.  In  his 
letter  to  Mazzei,  which  has  been  so  often  alluded  to,  and 
which  bears  date  April  24,  1796,  he  alleges  the  existence 
of  a  monarchical  party,  and  accuses  the  executive  and  ju 
dicial  branches  of  the  government  as  being  at  that  time 
the  heads  of  it,  and  as  opposed  to  the  republicans — that  is, 
himself  and  his  friends.  In  a  letter  to  Kichard  M.  John 
son,  dated  March  10, 1808,  (vol.  4, 109,)  he  says,  "  I  came 
to  the  government  under  circumstances  calculated  to  gen 
erate  peculiar  acrimony.  I  found  all  its  offices  in  the  pos 
session  of  a  political  sect  who  wished  to  transform  it  ulti 
mately  into  the  shape  of  their  darling  model,  the  English 
government;  and  in  the  mean  time  to  familiarize  the  pub 
lic  mind  to  the  change,  by  administering  it  on  English 
principles  and  in  English  forms."  In  the  same  volume, 
page  144,  is  a  letter  to  governor  Langdon,  in  which  he 
says,  "  The  toryism  with  which  we  struggled  in  1777,  dif 
fered  but  in  name  from  the  federalism  of  1799,  with  which 
we  struggled  also ;  and  the  Anglicism  of  1808,  against 
which  we  are  now  struggling,  is  but  the  same  thing  still, 
in  another  form.  It  is  a  longing  for  a  king,  and  an  En 
glish  king,  rather  than  any  other."  At  page  182  of  the 
same  volume,  is  a  letter  to  Mr.  Melish,  dated  January  13, 
1813,  in  which  he  says,  "Amidst  this  mass  of  approbation 
which  is  given  to  every  other  part  of  the  work,  there  is  a 
single  sentiment  which  I  cannot  help  wishing  to  bring  to 
what  I  think  the  correct  one  ;  and  on  a  point  so  interesting, 
I  value  your  opinion  too  highly  not  to  ambition  its  concur 
rence  with  my  own.  Stating  in  volume  first,  page  sixty- 
third,  the  principle  of  difference  between  the  two  great  po- 


276  THE    CHARACTER  OF 

litical  parties  here,  you  conclude  it  to  be,  '  whether  the  con 
trolling  power  shall  be  vested  in  this  or  that  set  of  men.' 
That  each  party  endeavors  to  get  into  the  administration  of 
the  government,  and  to  exclude  the  other  from  power,  is 
true,  and  may  be  stated  as  a  motive  of  action  :  but  this  is 
only  secondary ;  the  primary  motive  being  a  real  and  rad 
ical  difference  of  political  principle.  I  sincerely  wish  our 
differences  were  but  personally  who  should  govern,  and 
that  the  principles  of  oftf  constitution  were  those  of  both 
parties.  Unfortunately,  it  is  otherwise;  and  the  question 
of  preference  between  monarchy  and  republicanism,  which 
has  so  long  divided  mankind  elsewhere,  threatens  a  perma 
nent  division  here."  Again ; fh Vfclati^  a^  conversation 
which  he  says  he  had  with  general  Washington,  in  ..the 
year  1792,  among  other  things,  he  says,  "  I  told  him,  that 
though  the  people  were  sound,  there  were  a  numerous  sect 
who  had  monarchy  in  contemplation  ;  that  the  secretary 
of  the  treasury  was  one  of  these.  That  I  had  heard  him 
say  that  this  constitution  was  a  shilly-shally  thing,  of 
mere  milk  and  water,  which  could  not  last,  and  was  only 
good  as  a  step  to  something  better.  That  when  we  reflect 
ed,  that  he  had  endeavored  in  the  convention  to  make  an 
English  constitution  of  it,  and  when  failing  in  that  we  saw 
all  his  measures  tending  to  bring  it  to  the  same  thing,  it 
was  natural  for  us  to  be  jealous ;  and  particularly  when  we 
saw  that  these  measures  had  established  corruption  in 
the  legislature,  where  there  was  a  squadron  devoted  to  the 
nod  of  the  treasury,  doing  whatever  he  had  directed,  and 
ready  to  do  what  he  should  direct." 

A  thorough  examination  of  the  charge  preferred  by  Mr. 
Jefferson  against  the  federalists,  of  entertaining  monarchi 
cal  principles  and  propensities,  is  a  subject  of  deep  inter 
est  and  importance,  and  forms  one  of  the  great  objects 
which  the  author  had  in  view  when  he  undertook  the  task 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  277 

of  writing  this  work.  He  believed  it  an  act  of  justice  to 
the  memories  and  characters  of  as  virtuous,  disinterest 
ed  and  patriotic  a  body  of  men  as  ever  existed  in  any 
country  and  under  any  form  of  government.  It  was  much 
to  be  desired  that  it  should  have  been  performed  by  some 
abler  hand ;  and  by  no  person  more  sincerely  or  anxiously 
than  himself.  Having  given  to  their  country  the  benefit 
of  their  services  and  talents,  and  having  been  calumniated 
by  men  of  far  inferior  capacities,  as  well  as  moral  worth, 
and  rendered  unpopular,  and  in  many  instances  odious,  to 
the  people  whom  they  had  served  with  perfect  integrity 
and  disinterestedness — with  talents  rarely  equalled,  and 
an  exercise  of  perseverance,  fidelity,  and  energy  never  ex 
ceeded,  they  have  a  strong  and  well-founded  claim  upon 
their  country  for  the  justice  due  to  their  services  and  their 
reputations.  Ingratitude  has  been  ascribed  to  republics  as 
the  sin  which  easily  besets  them.  This  characteristic, 
odious  as  it  is,  becomes  much  more  so  when  it  is  accom 
panied  by  proscription  and  persecution.  Perhaps  the 
source  of  this  species  of  injustice  to  public  servants,  will 
be  found  in  the  nature  of  things.  Republics  almost  inva 
riably  become  divided  into  political  parties ;  and  many  a 
man,  who  lays  claim  to  consideration  on  the  score  of  per 
sonal  and  moral  worth,  will  bring  his  mind  to  adopt  a 
course  of  conduct  as  a  partizan,  which  he  would  individu 
ally  shrink  from  and  apparently  detest  The  responsibil 
ity  in  the  latter  case  would  be  his  own,  and  he  must  per 
sonally  be  answerable  for  the  whole  ;  while,  in  the  former, 
it  would  be  subdivided  among  so  many  that  an  individual 
share  would  be  considered  as  hardly  an  object  worthy  of 
notice  or  regard.  It  required  no  small  amount  of  courage, 
of  a  certain  description,  in  any  man,  to  attempt  to  destroy 
the  reputation  of  George  Washington,  within  less  than  ten 
years  after  the  establishment  of  our  national  independence, 
24 


278  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

on  the  ground  of  his  entertaining  political  sentiments 
opposed  to  republicanism,  and  favorable  to  the  establish 
ment  of  a  monarchical  government  in  the  United  States. 
After  the  time  he  had  spent,  the  sacrifices  he  had  made, 
the  risks  he  had  run,  the  great  talents  he  had  displayed, 
".he  immensely  important  services  he  had  rendered,  in 
achieving  the  freedom  and  independence  of  his  country,  but 
few  men  would  have  possessed  hardihood  enough  to  at 
tempt  to  undermine  or  lessen,  much  less  to  overthrow,  the 
exalted  character  which  that  most  distinguished  and  most 
excellent  man  had  established.  There  was,  however,  some 
thing  more  than  this  necessary  to  be  done,  before  the  object 
could  be  accomplished.  It  was  indispensable  to  destroy 
the  confidence  of  the  nation  in  the  integrity,  talents,  servi 
ces  and  patriotism,  of  a  large  number  of  as  able  and  vir 
tuous  statesmen,  as  brave  and  public  spirited  soldiers,  as 
any  republic,  ancient  or  modern,  could  boast  of.  Bold  and 
desperate,  however,  as  the  enterprise  was,  Mr.  Jefferson 
had  the  hardihood  to  undertake  it ;  and  what  is,  if  possible, 
still  more  extraordinary,  to  a  very  considerable  extent,  he 
succeeded  in  the  accomplishment  of  his  object.  The  means 
by  which  he  thus  far  attained  his  end,  were  secret,  art 
ful,  and  of  the  most  unworthy  character.  They  consisted 
of  the  profession  of  a  sincere  regard  for  the  union  and 
constitution  of  the  republic,  a  sacred  veneration  for  the 
people  and  their  rights,  a  strong  attachment  to  republican 
simplicity  of  habits  and  manners,  and  an  equal  dislike  of 
all  ostentation  and  parade,  an  utter  disrelish  for  public- 
employment,  and  a  ceaseless  yearning  for  the  retirement 
of  private  life ;  and  far  above  all,  an  entire  and  absolute 
hatred  of  monarchical  government.  In  the  midst  of  all 
this,  he  yearned  for  popularity,  by  whatever  means  obtain 
ed,  and  his  bosom  glowed  with  personal  and  political  am 
bition — an  extreme  desire  for  office,  influence,  and  power. 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  279 


CHAPTER    XV. 

Alien  and  sedition  laws — Reasons  for  passing  the  alien  law — Copy 
of  the  act — Zealously  opposed  by  Mr.  Jefferson — His  opinion  of 
it  as  expressed  in  his  letters — Urges  Pendleton  to  write  against 
it — Copy  of  parts  of  the  sedition  law — His  opinion  of  it  as  ex 
pressed  in  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Adams — Petitions  to  congress  for  the 
repeal  of  the  laws — Report  of  committee  in  the  house  of  repre 
sentatives — Letter  to  Madison,  February,  1799,  giving  an  ac 
count  of  the  proceedings  in  the  house  on  the  report — Law  re 
specting  alien  enemies — Still  in  force — Extract  from  Tucker's 
Life  of  Jefferson — His  object  in  opposing  the  law  to  court  popu 
larity,  and  render  the  federalists  unpopular — Letter  from  gener 
al  Washington  to  Spotswood,  en  the  alien  and  sedition  laws — 
Letter  toB.  Washington — Prosecutions  under  the  sedition  law — 
Persons  convicted  pardoned  by  Jefferson — Prosecutions  in  Con 
necticut — Case  of  Rev.  Dr.  Backus — Letter  from  Jefferson  to 
W.  C.  Nicholas,  professing  ignorance  of  these  casts — Facts  to 
show  that  he  was  acquainted  with  them. 

Two  acts  of  congress,  which  were  passed  during  the  ad 
ministration  of  the  elder  Mr.  Adams,  in  the  year  1798, 
commonly  called  the  alien  and  sedition  laws,  were  used 
with  great  success  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  and,  under  his  influ 
ence,  by  his  partizans,  against  the  federalists,  as  legislative 
enactments  which  violated  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States.  It  is  doubtful  whether  any  other  measures  of  the 
government,  during  that  stormy  period,  had  so  powerful 
an  agency  in  lessening  the  influence  of  the  federalists  and 
destroying  their  popularity. 

At  the  time  when  the  alien  law  was  passed,  there  were 
strong  apprehensions  of  a  war  between  the  United  States 
and  France.  Mr.  Jeflerson  was  the  vice  president,  and 


280  THE     CHARACTER    OF 

was  warmly  and  zealously  opposed  to  the  measures  of  the 
government  which  related  to  the  controversy  with  that 
nation.  At  the  same  time,  there  were  in  the  country  a 
number  of  bold,  meddling  and  mischievous  foreigners, 
some  of  whom  were  connected  with  the  publication  of 
newspapers,  in  which  the  administration,  and  the  principal 
officers  of  the  government,  were  constantly  attacked  in 
coarse,  indecent,  reproachful,  and  vindictive  language. 
Their  object  most  obviously  was,  by  the  promulgation  of 
scurrility  and  slander  to  destroy  the  reputations  arid  influ 
ence  of  those  members  of  the  government,  and  to  bring 
them  into  general  contempt ;  and  at  the  same  time,  to  excite 
a  seditious  spirit  of  opposition  to  its  measures.  In  order  to 
guard  against  the  evils  which  such  a  state  of  things  was  cal 
culated  and  designed  to  produce,  especially  in  an  important 
emergency,  which  was  supposed  likely  to  occur,  it  was 
thought  to  be  expedient,  as  well  as  proper,  to  provide  the 
means,  in  case  of  a  necessity  therefor,  for  the  executive  to 
restrain  or  prevent  such  persons  from  carrying  into  effect 
their  mischievous  intentions  ;  and  if  it  should  become  ne 
cessary,  to  remove  them  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the 
national  jurisdiction.  Such  a  power  was  considered  as 
inherent  in  the  government;  as  it  would  be  an  absurdity 
to  refuse  to  it,  under  refined  and  scrupulous  notions  of 
constitutionality,  the  power  of  self-defence  and  protection. 
The  act  was  in  the  following  words — 

"  1.  Be  it  enacted — That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  pres 
ident  of  the  United  States,  at  any  time  during  the  continu 
ance  of  this  act,  to  order  all  such  aliens  LS  he  shall  judge 
dangerous  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  United  States,  or 
shall  have  reasonable  ground  to  suspect  are  concerned  in 
any  treasonable  or  secret  machinations  against  the  govern 
ment  thereof,  to  depart  out  of  the  territory  of  the  United 
Slates,  within  such  time  as  shall  be  expressed  in  such  or- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  281 

der;  which  order  shall  be  served  on  such  alien  by  deliver 
ing  him  a  copy  thereof,  or  leaving  the  same  at  his  usual 
abode,  and  returned  to  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  state 
by  the  marshal  or  other  person  to  whom  the  same  shall  be 
directed.  And  in  case  any  alien  so  ordered  to  depart 
shall  be  found  at  large  within  the  United  Stales  after  the 
time  limited  in  such  order  for  his  departure,  and  not  hav 
ing  obtained  a  license  from  the  president  to  reside  therein, 
or  having  obtained  such  license  shall  not  have  conformed 
thereto,  every  such  alien  shall,  on  conviction  thereof,  be 
imprisoned  for  a  term  not  exceeding  three  year?,  and  shall 
never  after  be  admitted  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States.  Provided,  that  if  any  alien  so  ordered  to  depart 
shall  prove,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  president,  by  evidence 
to  be  taken  before  such  person  or  persons  as  the  president 
shall  direct,  who  are  for  that  purpose  hereby  authorized  to 
administer  oaths,  that  no  injury  or  danger  to  the  United 
States  will  arise  from  suffering  such  alien  to  reside  there 
in,  the  president  may  grant  a  license  to  such  alien  to  re 
main  within  the  United  States,  for  such  time  as  he  shall 
judge  proper,  and  at  such  place  as  he  shall  designate. 
And  the  president  may  also  require  of  such  alien  to  enter 
into  a  bond  to  the  United  States,  in  such  penal  sum  as  he 
may  direct,  with  one  or  more  sufficient  sureties,  to  the  sat 
isfaction  of  the  person  authorized  by  the  president  to  take 
the  same,  conditioned  for  the  good  behavior  of  such  alien 
during  his  residence  in  the  United  States,  and  not  violat 
ing  his  license,  which  license  the  president  may  revoke 
whenever  he  shall  think  proper. 

"  2.  That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  president  of  the 
United  States,  whenever  he  may  deem  it  necessary  for  the 
public  safety,  to  order  to  be  removed  out  of  the  territory 
thereof  any  alien  who  may  or  shall  be  in  prison,  in  pur 
suance  of  this  act ;  and  to  cause  to  be  arrested  and  sent 
24* 


282  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

out  of  the  United  States,  such  of  those  aliens  as  shall 
have  been  ordered  to  depart  therefrom  and  shall  not  have 
obtained  a  license  as  aforesaid,  in  all  cases  where,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  president,  the  public  safety  requires  a  speedy 
removal.  And  if  any  alien  so  removed,  or  sent  out  of  the 
United  States,  by  the  president,  shall  voluntarily  return 
thereto,  unless  by  permission  of  the  United  States,  such 
alien,  on  conviction  thereof,  shall  be  imprisoned  so  long  as, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  president,  the  public  safety  may  re 
quire." 

The  3d,  4th  and  5th  sections  relate  to  the  manner  of 
executing  the  law;  and  the  6lh  is  in  the  following  words — - 

"  That  this  act  shall  continue  and  be  in  force  for  and 
during  the  term  of  two  years  from  the  passing  thereof. 
[Approved,  June  25,  1798.]" 

This  measure,  as  soon  as  it  was  proposed  in  congress, 
met  with  the  pointed  opposition  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  never 
lost  an  opportunity  to  seize  hold  of  every  subject  that  was 
calculated  to  excite  popular  passion,  and  to  enlist  in  his 
own  favor  vulgar  prejudice  or  resentment.  When  it  was 
in  progress  through  congress,  in  a  letter  to  James  Madi 
son,  dated  May  31,  1798,  (Jefferson's  Works,  volume  3, 
page  391,)  he  says,  "  The  alien  bill  will  be  ready  to-day, 
probably  for  its  third  reading  in  the  senate.  It  has  been 
considerably  mollified,  particularly  by  a  proviso  saving  the 
rights  of  parties.  Still,  it  is  a  most  detestable  thing,"  In 
a  letter  to  Stephens  Thompson  Mason,  (Ibid,  page  402,) 
he  "says,  "  The  X.  Y.  Z.  fever  has  considerably  abated 
through  the  country,  as  I  am  informed,  and  the  alien  and 
sedition  laws  are  working  hard.  I  fancy  that  some  of 
the  state  legislatures  will  take  strong  ground  on  this  occa 
sion.  For  my  own  part,  I  consider  those  laws  as  merely 
an  experiment  on  the  American  mind,  to  see  how  far  it  will 
bear  an  avowed  violation  of  the  constitution.  If  this  goes 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  283 

down,  we  shall  immediately  see  attempted  another  act  of 
congress,  declaring  that  the  president  shall  continue  in  of" 
fice  during  life,  reserving  to  another  occasion  the  transfer 
of  the  succession  to  his  heirs  and  the  establishment  of  the 
senate  for  life."  In  a  letter  to  John  Taylor,  dated  Novem 
ber  26,  1798,  (Jefferson's  Works,  volume  4,  page  403,)  af 
ter  noticing  the  subject  of  amending  the  constitution  in 
one  or  two  particulars,  he  goes  on  to  say,  "  For  the  present, 
I  should  be  for  resolving  the  alien  and  sedition  laws  to  be 
against  the  constitution  and  merely  void,  and  for  address 
ing  the  other  states  to  obtain  similar  declarations  ;  and  I 
would  not  do  anything  at  this  moment  ivhich  should  com 
mit  us  further,  but  reserve  ourselves  to  shape  our  future 
measures  or  'no  measures,  by  the  events  which  may  happen." 
In  page  414  of  the  same  volume,  in  a  letter  to  Edmund 
Pendleton,  dated  January  29,  1799,  in  which  he  urges 
Mr.  Pendleton  to  recapitulate  the  transactions  which  oc 
curred  during  the  negotiation  with  France,  for  the  purpose 
of  bringing  the  subject  distinctly  to  the  understanding  of 
the  people,  he  says,  "  Nobody  in  America  can  do  it  as  well 
as  yourself,  in  the  same  character  of  the  father  of  your 
country,  or  any  form  you  like  better,  and  so  concise,  as, 
omitting  nothing  material,  may  yet  be  printed  in  hand-bills 
of  which  we  could  print  and  disperse  ten  or  twelve  thou 
sand  copies  under  letter  covers,  through  all  the  United 
States,  by  the  members  of  congress  when  they  return  home. 
If  the  understanding  of  the  people  could  be  rallied  to  the 
truth  on  this  subject  by  exposing  the  dupery  practised  on 
them,  there  are  so  many  other  things  about  to  bear  on 
them  favorably  for  the  resurrection  of  their  republican 
spirit,  ihat  a  reduction  of  the  administration  to  constitu 
tional  principles  cannot  fail  to  be  the  effect.  These  are 
the  alien  and  sedition  laws,"  &c. 

That  objects  of  a  political  description,  rather  than  any 


284  THE    CHARACTER    OP 

real  apprehensions  for  the  safety  of  the  constitution,  occu 
pied  Mr.  Jefferson's  mind  and  excited  his  opposition  to 
these  measures,  will  be  more  readily  believed  at  this  dis 
tance  of  time,  is  not  improbable  ;  especially  as  his  views 
and  character  are  much  better  understood  now  than  they 
were  forty  years  ago. 

The  act  commonly  called  the  "  sedition  law,"  was  pass 
ed  at  the  same  session  of  congress  with  the  alien  law. 
The  second  section,  which  was  the  offensive  one,  is  in  the 
following  words— 

"  That  if  any  person  shall  write,  print,  utter  or  publish, 
or  shall  cause  or  procure  to  be  written,  printed,  uttered  or 
published,  or  shall  knowingly  and  willingly  assist  or  aid 
in  writing,  printing,  uttering  or  publishing,  any  false,  scan 
dalous,  writing  or  writings,  against  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  or  either  house  of  the  congress  of  the  Uni 
ted  States,  or  the  president  of  the  United  States,  with  in 
tent  to  defame  the  said  government,  or  either  house  of  the 
said  congress,  or  the  said  president,  or  to  bring  them,  or 
either  of  them,  into  contempt  or  disrepute ;  or  to  excite 
against  them,  or  either  or  any  of  them,  the  hatred  of  the 
good  people  of  the  United  States,  or  to  stir  up  sedition 
within  the  United  States,  or  to  excite  any  unlawful  combi 
nations  therein  for  opposing  or  resisting  any  law  of  the 
United  States,  or  any  act  of  the  president  of  the  United 
States  done  in  pursuance  of  any  such  law  or  of  the  pow 
ers  in  him  vested  by  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  ; 
or  to  resist,  or  oppose,  or  defeat,  any  such  law  or  act ;  or 
to  aid,  encourage,  or  abet,  any  hostile  designs  of  any  for 
eign  nation  against  the  United  States,  their  people,  or  gov 
ernment,  then  such  person,  being  thereof  convicted  before 
any  court  of  the  United  States  having  jurisdiction  thereof, 
shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  not  exceeding  two  thousand 
dollars  and  by  imprisonment  not  exceeding  two  years. 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  285 

The  third  section  is  as  follows — 

"  That  if  any  person  shall  be  prosecuted  under  this  act 
for  the  writing  or  publishing  any  libel  aforesaid,  it  shall  be 
lawful  for  the  defendant,  upon  the  trial  of  the  cause,  to 
give  in  evidence  in  his  defence  the  truth  of  the  matter  con 
tained  in  the  publication  charged  as  a  libel.  And  the  jury 
who  shall  try  the  cause,  shall  have  a  right  to  determine 
the  law  and  the  fact,  under  the  direction  of  the  court  as 
in  other  cases." 

Mr.  Jefferson's  opinion  of  this  act,  as  well  as  of  the  al 
ien  law,  has  already  been  cited.  But  in  a  letter  to  Mrs. 
Adams,  dated  July  22,  1804,  (Jeff,  works,  vol.  4,  page  22,) 
he  uses  still  stronger  and  more  decisive  language  respect 
ing  the  sedition  law.  In  explaining  to  her  the  reason  why 
he  pardoned  a  man  who  had  been  convicted  under  the  act 
for  a  libel  upon  his  friend  Mr.  Adams,  he  says,  '<:fBut  an 
other  fact  (of  which  he  has  been  accused)  is,  that  I  liberated 
a  wretch  who  was  suffering  for  a  libel  against  Mr.  Adams. 
I  do  not  know  who  was  the  particular  wretch  alluded  to; 
but  I  discharged  every  person  under  punishment  or  prose 
cution  under  the  sedition  law,  because  I  considered  and  now 
consider  that  law  to  be  a  nullity,  as  absolute  and  as  palpa 
ble  as  if  congress  had  ordered  us  to  fall  down  and  worship 
a  golden  image  ;  and  that  it  was  as  much  my  duty  to  ar 
rest  its  execution  in  every  stage,  as  it  would  have  been  to 
have  rescued  from  the  fiery  furnace  those  who  should  have 
been  cast  into  it  for  refusing  to  worship  the  image.  It 
was  accordingly  done  in  every  instance,  without  asking 
what  the  offenders  had  done,  or  against  whom  they  had 
offended,  but  whether  the  pains  they  were  suffering  were 
inflicted  under  the  pretended  sedition  law.  It  was  certain 
ly  possible  that  my  motives  for  contributing  to  the  re 
lief  of  Callendar,  and  liberating  sufferers  under  the  se 
dition  law,  might  have  been  to  protect,  encourage,  and 
reward  slander;  but  they  may  also  have  been  those  which 


286  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

inspire  ordinary  charities  to  objects  of  distress,  meritori 
ous  or  not,  or  the  obligation  of  an  oath  to  protect  the  con 
stitution,  violated  by  an  unauthorized  act  of  congress. 
Which  of  these  were  my  motives,  must  be  decided  by  a 
regard  to  the  general  tenor  of  my  life.  On  this  I  am  not 
afraid  to  appeal  to  the  nation  at  large,  to  posterity,  and 
still  less  to  that  Being  who  sees  himself  our  motives, 
who  will  judge  us  from  his  own  knowledge  of  them,  and 
not  from  the  testimony  of  Porcupine  or  Fenno." 

At  the  session  of  congress  which  followed  that  in  which 
the  alien  and  sedition  laws  were  passed,  a  great  number  of 
petitions  praying  for  their  repeal  on  the  ground  of  their 
being  unconstitutional,  were  presented,  and  referred  to  a 
committee  of  the  house  of  representatives ;  who,  on  the 
21st  of  February,  1799,  made  a  very  able  report  on  the 
general  subject.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  that 
document — 

"  The  act  concerning  aliens,  and  the  act  in  addition  to 
the  act,  entitled  an  act  for  the  punishment  of  certain 
U  e,  shall  be  first  considered. 

'  ,eir  constitutionality  is  impeached.  It  is  contended 
that  congress  have  no  power  to  pass  a  law  for  removing 
aliens. 

"  To  this  it  is  answered,  that  the  asylum  given  by  a  na 
tion  to  foreigners  is  mere  matter  of  favor,  resumable  at  the 
public  will.  On  this  point,  abundant  authorities  might  be 
adduced,  but  the  common  practice  of  nations  attests  the 
principle. 

The  right  of  removing  aliens,  as  an  incident  to  the  pow 
er  of  war  and  peace,  according  to  the  theory  of  the  con 
stitution,  belongs  to  the  government  of  the  United  States. 
By  the  4th  section  of  the  4th  article  of  the  constitution, 
congress  is  required  to  protect  each  state  from  invasion, 
and  is  vested  by  the  8th  section  of  the  5th  article,  with 

wer  to  make  all  laws,  which  shall  be  proper  to  c 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  287 

to  effect  all  powers  vested  by  the  constitution  in  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  department  or  of 
ficer  thereof;  and  to  remove  from  the  country,  in  times  of 
hostility,  dangerous  aliens,  who  may  be  employed  in  pre 
paring  the  way  for  invasion,  is  a  measure  necessary  for 
the  purpose  of  preventing  invasion,  and  of  course  a  meas 
ure  that  congress  is  empowered  to  adopt. 

"  The  act  is  said  to  be  unconstitutional,  because  to  re 
move  aliens  is  a  direct  breach  of  the  constitution,  which 
provides  by  the  9th  section  of  the  1st  article,  that  *  the  mi 
gration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as  any  of  the 
states  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited 
by  the  congress  prior  to  the  year  1808.' 

"To  this,  it  is  answered,  first,  that  this  section  in  the 
constitution  was  enacted  solely  in  order  to  prevent  con 
gress  from  prohibiting,  until  after  a  fit  period,  the  importa 
tion  of  SLAVES,  which  appears  from  two  considerations. 
First,  that  the  restriction  is  confined  to  the  states  which 
were  in  existence  at  the  time  of  establishing  the  constitu 
tion  ;  and  secondly,  that  it  is  to  continue  only  twenty 
years,  for  neither  of  which  modifications  could  there  have 
been  the  least  reason,  had  the  restriction  been  intended  to 
apply,  not  to  slaves  particularly,  but  to  all  emigrants  in 
general. 

"  Secondly,  it  is  answered,  that  to  prevent  emigration  in 
general  is  a  very  different  thing  from  sending  off  after 
their  arrival,  such  emigrants  as  might  abuse  the  indulgence, 
by  rendering  themselves  dangerous  to  the  peace  or  safe 
ty  of  the  country,  and  that  if  the  constitution,  in  this  par 
ticular,  should  be  so  construed,  it  would  prevent  congress 
from  driving  a  body  of  armed  men  from  the  country,  who 
might  land  with  views  evidently  hostile. 

"Thirdly,  that  as  the  constitution  has  given  to  the 
states  no  power  to  remove  aliens,  during  the  period  of  the 


288  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

limitation  under  consideration,  in  the  mean  time,  on  the 
construction  assumed,  there  would  be  no  authority  in  the 
country  empowered  to  send  away  dangerous  aliens,  which 
cannot  be  admitted  ;  and  that  on  a  supposition  the  aforesaid 
restrictive  clause  included  every  description  of  emigrants, 
the  different  sections  must  receive  such  a  construction  as 
will  reconcile  them  with  each  other ;  and  according  to  a 
fair  interpretation  of  the  different  parts  of  the  constitution, 
the  section  cannot  be  considered  as  restrictive  on  the  power 
of  congress  to  send  away  dangerous  foreigners  in  times  of 
threatened  or  actual  hostility.  And  though  the  United 
States  at  the  time  of  passing  this  act  were  not  in  a  state 
of  declared  war,  they  were  in  a  state  of  partial  hostility, 
and  had  the  power  by  law,  to  provide,  as  by  this  act  they 
have  done,  for  removing  dangerous  aliens. 

"  This  law  is  said  to  violate  that  part  of  the  constitution 
which  provides  that  the  trial  of  all  crimes  except  in  cases 
of  impeachment  shall  be  by  jury;  whereas  this  act  invests 
the  president  with  power  to  send  away  aliens  on  his  own 
suspicion,  and  thus  to  inflict  punishment  without  trial  by 
jury, 

"  It  is  answered  in  the  first  place,  that  the  constitution 
was  made  for  CITIZENS,  not  for  ALIENS,  who  of  consequence 
have  no  RIGHTS  under  it,  but  remain  in  the  country,  and 
enjoy  the  benefit  of  the  laws,  not  as  matter  of  right,  but 
merely  as  matter  of  favor  and  permission  ;  which  favor 
and  permission  may  be  withdrawn  whenever  the  gov 
ernment  charged  with  the  general  welfare  shall  judge  their 
further  continuance  dangerous.  It  is  answered  in  the  se 
cond  place,  that  the  provisions  in  the  constitution  relative 
to  presentment  and  trial  of  offences  by  juries,  do  not  apply 
to  the  revocation  of  an  asylum  given  to  aliens.  Those 
provisions  solely  respect  crimes,  and  the  alien  may  be  re 
moved  without  having  committed  any  offence,  merely  from 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  289 

motives  of  policy  or  security.  The  citizen,  being  a  mem 
ber  of  the  society,  has  a  right  to  remain  in  the  country,  of 
which  he  cannot  be  disfranchised,  except  for  offences  first 
ascertained  on  presentment  and  trial  by  jury. 

"It  is  answered  thirdly,  that  the  removal  of  aliens, 
though  it  may  be  inconvenient  to  them,  cannot  be  consid 
ered  as  a  punishment  inflicted  for  an  offence,  but,  as  before 
remarked,  merely  the  removal,  from  motives  of  general 
safety,  of  an  indulgence  which  there  is  danger  of  their 
abusing,  and  which  we  are  in  no  manner  bound  to  grant 
or  continue. 

"  The  '  act  in  addition  to  an  act,  entitled  an  act  for  the 
punishment  of  certain  crimes  against  the  United  States,' 
commonly  called  the  sedition  act,  contains  provisions  of  a 
twofold  nature ;  first,  against  seditious  acts,  and  second, 
against  libelous  and  seditious  writings.  The  first  have 
never  been  complained  of,  nor  has  any  objection  been  made 
to  its  validity :  the  objection  applies  solely  to  the  second  ; 
and  on  the  ground,  in  the  first  place,  that  congress  has  no 
power  by  the  constitution  to  pass  any  act  for  punishing 
libels,  no  such  power  being  expressly  given,  and  all  pow 
ers  not  given  to  congress  being  reserved  to  the  states  re 
spectively,  or  to  the  people  thereof. 

"  To  this  opinion  it  is  answered,  that  a  law  to  punish 
false,  scandalous  and  malicious  writings  against  the  gov 
ernment,  with  intent  to  stir  up  sedition,  is  a  law  necessary 
for  carrying  into  effect  the  power  vested  by  the  constitu 
tion  in  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and  in  the 
departments  and  officers  thereof,  and  consequently  such  a 
law  as  congress  may  pass :  because  the  direct  tendency  of 
such  writings  is  to  obstruct  the  acts  of  the  government  by 
exciting  opposition  to  them,  to  endanger  its  existence  by 
rendering  it  odious  and  contemptible  in  the  eyes  of  the 
people,  and  to  produce  seditious  combinations  against  the 
25 


290 


THE    CHARACTER    OF 


laws,  the  power  to  punish  which  has  never  been  question 
ed  :  because  it  would  be  manifestly  absurd  to  suppose  that 
a  government  might  punish  sedition,  and  yet  be  void  of 
power  to  prevent  it  by  punishing  those  acts,  which  plainly 
and  necessarily  lead  to  it.  And  because  under  the  general 
power  to  make  all  laws  proper  and  necessary  for  carrying 
into  effect  the  powers  vested  by  the  constitution  in  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States,  congress  has  passed  many 
laws  for  which  no  express  provision  can  be  found  in  the 
constitution,  and  the  constitutionality  of  which  have  never 
been  questioned  ;  such  as  the  first  section  of  the  act  now 
under  consideration  for  punishing  seditious  combinations  ; 
the  act  passed  during  the  present  session,  for  punishing 
persons  who,  without  authority  from  the  government,  shall 
carry  on  any  correspondence  relativs  to  foreign  affairs  with 
any  foreign  government ;  the  act  for  the  punishment  of 
certain  crimes  against  the  United  States,  which  defines 
and  punishes  misprision  of  treason  ;  the  10th  and  12th  sec 
tions,  which  declare  the  punishment  of  accessories  to  pira 
cy,  and  of  persons  who  shall  confederate  to  become  pirates 
themselves,  or  to  induce  others  to  become  so;  the  15th 
section,  which  inflicts  a  penalty  on  those  who  steal  or 
falsify  the  record  of  any  court  of  the  United  States;  the 
18th  and  21st  sections  of  which  provide  for  the  punish 
ment  of  persons  committing  perjury  in  any  court  of  the 
United  States,  or  attempting  to  bribe  any  of  their  judges  ; 
the  22d  section,  which  furnishes  those  who  obstruct  or  re 
sist  the  progress  of  any  court  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  23d  against  rescuing  offenders  who  have  been  convicted 
of  any  capital  offence  before  those  courts  ;  provisions,  none 
of  which  are  expressly  authorized,  but  which  have  been 
considered  as  constitutional  because  they  are  necessary 
and  proper  for  carrying  into  effect  certain  powers  expressly 
to  congress. 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  291 

"It  is  objected  to  this  act,  in  the  second  place,  that  it  is 
expressly  contrary  to  that  part  of  the  constitution  which 
declares  that  '  congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an 
establishment  of  religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise 
thereof,  or  abridging  the  liberty  of  the  press.'  The  act  in 
question  is  said  to  be  an  'abridgment  of  the  liberty  of 
the  press,'  and  therefore  unconstitutional. 

"To  this  it  is  answered,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  lib 
erty  of  the  press  consists  not  in  a  license  for  every  man  to 
publish  what  he  pleases,  without  being  liable  to  punish 
ment  if  he  should  abuse  this  license  to  the  injury  of  others, 
but  in  a  permission  to  publish,  without  previous  restraint, 
whatever  he  may  think  proper,  being  answerable  to  the 
public  and  individuals  for  any  abuse  of  this  permission  to 
their  prejudice ;  in  like  manner  as  the  liberty  of  speech 
does  not  authorize  a  man  to  speak  malicious  slanders 
against  his  neighbor,  nor  the  liberty  of  action  justify  him 
in  going  by  violence  into  another  man's  house,  or  in  as 
saulting  any  person  whom  he  may  meet  in  the  streets.  In 
the  several  states,  the  liberty  of  the  press  has  always  been 
understood  in  this  manner,  and  no  other;  and  the  consti 
tution  of  every  state,  which  has  been  framed  and  adopted 
since  the  declaration  of  independence,  asserts  *  the  liberty  of 
the  press,'  while  in  several,  if  not  all,  their  laws  provide 
for  the  punishment  of  libelous  publications,  which  would 
be  a  manifest  absurdity  and  contradiction,  if  the  liberty  of 
the  press  meant  to  publish  anything  and  everything,  with 
out  being  amenable  to  the  laws  for  the  abuse  of  this  li 
cense.  According  to  this  just,  legal,  and  universally  ad 
mitted  definition  of  '  liberty  of  the  press,'  a  law  to  restrain 
its  licentiousness,  in  publishing  false,  scandalous  and  ma 
licious  libels  against  the  government,  cannot  be  considered 
as  '  an  abridgment '  of  its  '  liberty.' 

"  It  is  answered,  in  the  second  place,  that  the  liberty  of 


292  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

the  press  did  never  extend,  according  to  the  laws  of  any 
state,  or  of  the  United  States,  or  of  England,  from  whence 
our  laws  are  derived,  to  the  publication  of  false,  scandalous 
and  malicious  writings  against  the  government,  written  or 
published  with  intent  to  do  mischief,  such  publications  be 
ing  unlawful  and  punishable  in  every  state  ;  from  whence 
it  follows  undeniably,  that  a  law  to  publish  seditious  and 
malicious  publications  is  not  an  abridgment  of 'the  liber 
ty  of  the  press,'  for  it  would  be  a  manifest  absurdity  to 
say,  that  a  man's  liberty  was  abridged  for  doing  that  which 
he  never  had  a  liberty  to  do. 

"  It  is  answered,  thirdly,  that  the  act  in  question  cannot 
be  unconstitutional,  because  it  makes  nothing  penal  that 
was  not  penal  before,  and  gives  no  new  powers  to  the 
court,  but  is  merely  declaratory  of  the  common  law,  and 
useful  for  rendering  that  law  more  generally  known  and 
more  easily  understood.  This  cannot  be  denied,  if  it  be 
admitted,  as  it  must  be,  that  false,  scandalous,  and  mali 
cious  libels  against  the  government  of  the  country,  pub 
lished  with  intent  to  do  mischief,  are  punishable  by  the 
common  law ;  for  by  the  2d  section  of  the  3d  article  of  the 
constitution,  the  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  is 
expressly  extended  to  all  offences  arising  under  the  constitu 
tion.  By  the  constitution  the  government  of  the  United 
States  is  established,  for  many  important  objects,  as  THE 
GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  COUNTRY  ;  and  libels  against  that  gov 
ernment,  therefore,  are  offences  arising  under  the  constitu 
tion,  and  consequently  are  punishable  at  common  law  by 
the  courts  of  the  United  States.  The  act,  indeed,  is  so 
far  from  having  extended  the  law,  and  the  power  of  the 
court,  that  it  has  abridged  both,  and  has  enlarged  instead 
of  abridging  the  '  liberty  of  the  press ;'  for  at  common 
law,  libels  against  the  government  might  be  punished  with 
fine  and  imprisonment  at  the  discretion  of  the  court,  where- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  293 

as  the  act  limits  the  fine  to  two  thousand  dollars,  and  the 
imprisonment  to  two  years ;  and  it  also  allows  the  party 
accused  to  give  the  TRUTH  in  evidence  for  his  justification, 
which  by  the  common  law  was  expressly  forbidden. 

"And  lastly,  it  is  answered,  that  had  the  constitution 
intended  to  prohibit  congress  from  legislating  at  all  on  the 
subject  of  the  press,  which  is  the  construction  whereon  the 
objections  to  this  law  are  founded,  it  would  have  used  the 
same  expressions  as  in  that  part  of  the  clause  which  re 
lates  to  religion  and  religious  tests ;  whereas  the  words 
are  wholly  different;  "congress,"  says  the  constitution, 
(amendment  3d,)  "  shall  make  no  law  RESPECTING  an  es 
tablishment  of  religion,  or  PROHIBITING  the  free  exercise 
thereof,  or  ABRIDGING  the  freedom  of  speech  or  the  press." 
Here  it  is  manifest  that  the  constitution  intended  to  prohib 
it  congress  from  legislating  at  all  on  the  subject  of  reli 
gious  establishments,  and  the  prohibition  is  made  in  the 
most  express  terms.  Had  the  same  intention  prevailed  re 
specting  the  press,  the  same  expressions  would  have  been 
used,  and  congress  would  have  been  "  prohibited  from  pass 
ing  any  law  respecting  the  press."  They  are  not,  howev 
er,  "  prohibited  "  from  legislating  at  all  on  the  subject,  but 
merely  from  abridging  the  liberty  of  the  press.  It  is  ev 
ident  they  may  legislate  respecting  the  press,  may  pass 
laws  for  its  regulation,  and  to  punish  those  who  pervert  it 
into  an  engine  of  mischief,  provided  those  laws  do  not 
"abridge"  its  "liberty."  Its  LIBERTY,  according  to  the 
well  known  and  universally  admitted  definition,  consists 
in  permission  to  publish,  without  previous  restraint  upon 
the  press,  but  subject  to  punishment  afterwards  for  improp 
er  publications.  A  law,  therefore,  to  impose  previous  re 
straint  upon  the  press,  and  not  one  to  inflict  punishment 
on  wicked  and  malicious  publications,  would  be  a  law  to 
25* 


294 


THE    CHARACTER    OF 


abridge  the  liberty  of  the  press,  and  as  such  unconstitu 
tional. 

"  The  foregoing  reasoning  is  submitted  as  vindicating  the 
validity  of  the  laws  in  question. 

"  Although  the  committee  believe,  that  each  of  the  meas 
ures  adopied  by  congress  during  the  last  session  is  suscept 
ible  of  an  analytical  justification,  on  the  principles  of  the 
constitution  and  national  policy,  yet  they  prefer  to  rest 
their  vindication  on  the  true  ground  of  considering  them 
as  parts  of  a  general  system  of  defence,  adapted  to  a  cri 
sis  of  extraordinary  difficulty  and  danger. 

"  It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  power  to  declare  war; 
to  raise  and  support  armies ;  to  provide  and  maintain  a 
navy  ;  to  suppress  insurrections  and  repel  invasions,  and 
also  the  power  to  defray  the  necessary  expense  by  loans  or 
taxes,  are  vested  in  congress.  Unfortunately  for  the  present 
generation  of  mankind,  a  contest  has  arisen  and  rages  with 
unabated  ferocity,  which  has  desolated  the  fairest  portion  of 
Europe,  and  shaken  the  fabric  of  society  through  the  civi 
lized  world.  From  the  nature  and  effects  of  this  contest,  as 
developed  in  the  experience  of  nations,  melancholy  inferences 
must  be  drawn,  that  it  is  unsusceptible  of  the  restraints 
which  have  either  designated  the  objects,  limited  the  dura 
tion,  or  mitigated  the  horrors  of  national  contentions.  In  the 
internal  history  of  France,  and  in  the  conduct  of  her  forces 
and  partizans  in  the  countries  which  have  fallen  under  her 
power,  the  public  councils  of  our  country  were  required  to 
discern  the  dangers  which  threatened  the  United  States, 
and  to  guard  not  only  against  the  usual  consequences  of 
war,  but  also  against  the  effects  of  an  unprecedented  com 
bination  to  establish  new  principles  of  social  action  on  the 
subversion  of  religion,  morality,  law  and  government. 
Will  it  be  said,  that  the  raising  of  a  small  army,  and  an 
eventual  provision  for  drawing  into  the  public  service  a 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  295 

considerable  proportion  of  the  whole  force  of  the  country, 
was  in  such  a  crisis  unwise  or  improvident  ? 

"  If  such  should  be  the  assertion,  let  it  be  candidly  con 
sidered,  whether  some  of  our  fertile  and  flourishing  states 
did  not,  six  months  since,  present  as  alluring  objects  for  the 
gratification  of  ambition  or  cupidity  as  the  inhospitable  cli 
mate  of  Egypt  ?  What  then  appeared  to  be  the  compar 
ative  difficulties  between  invading  America  and  subverting 
the  British  power  in  the  East  Indies  ?  If  this  was  a  pro 
fessed,  not  a  real  object,  of  the  enterprise,  let  it  be  asked, 
if  the  sultan  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  was  not  really  the 
friend  of  France  at  the  time  when  his  unsuspecting  de 
pendencies  were  invaded ;  and  whether  the  United  States 
were  not  at  the  same  time  loaded  with  insults  and  assailed 
with  hostility?  If,  however,  it  be  asserted,  that  the  system 
of  France  is  hostile  only  to  despotic  or  monarchical  gov 
ernments,  arid  that  our  security  arises  from  the  form  o  f 
our  constitution,  let  Switzerland,  first  divided  and  disarm 
ed  by  perfidious  seductions,  now  agonized  by  relentless 
power,  illustrate  the  consequences  of  similar  credulity.  Is 
it  necessary  at  this  time  to  vindicate  the  naval  armament ; 
rather  may  not  the  enquiry  be  boldly  made,  whether  the 
guardians  of  the  public  weal  would  not  have  deserved  and 
received  the  reproaches  of  every  patriotic  American,  if  a 
contemptible  naval  force  had  been  longer  permitted  to  in 
tercept  our  necessary  supplies,  destroy  our  principal  source 
of  revenue,  and  seize,  at  the  entrance  of  our  harbors  and 
rivers,  the  products  of  our  industry  destined  to  our  foreign 
markets  ?  If  such  injuries  were  at  all  to  be  repelled,  is  not 
the  restriction  which  confined  captures  by  our  ships  solely 
to  armed  vessels  of  France,  a  sufficient  proof  of  our  mod 
eration  ? 

"  If,  therefore,  naval  and  military  preparations  were  ne 
cessary,  a  provision  of  funds  to  defray  the  consequent  ex- 


296 


THE    CHARACTER    OB* 


penses  was  of  course  indispensable ;  a  review  of  all  the 
measures  that  have  been  adopted  since  the  establishment  of 
the  government,  will  prove  that  congress  have  not  been  un 
mindful  of  the  wishes  of  the  American  people  to  avoid  an 
accumulation  of  the  public  debt ;  and  the  success  which  has 
attended  these  measures  affords  conclusive  evidence  of  the 
sincerity  of  their  intentions.  But  to  purchase  sufficient 
quantities  of  military  supplies,  to  establish  a  navy,  and  pro 
vide  for  all  the  contingencies  of  an  army,  without  recourse 
to  new  taxes  and  loans,  was  impracticable ;  both  measures 
were  in  fact  adopted, — in  devising  a  mode  of  taxation,  the 
convenience  and  ease  of  the  least  wealthy  class  of  the  peo 
ple  were  consulted  as  much  as  possible,  and  although  the 
expenses  of  assessment  have  furnished  a  topic  of  complaint, 
it  is  found  that  the  allowances  are  barely  sufficient  to  en 
sure  the  execution  of  the  law,  even  aided  as  they  are  by 
the  disinterested  and  patriotic  exertions  of  worthy  citizens; 
besides,  it  ought  to  be  remembered  that  the  expenses  of 
organizing  a  new  system,  should  not  on  any  principle,  be 
regarded  as  a  permanent  burden  on  the  public. 

"  In  authorizing  a  loan  of  money,  congress  have  not  been 
inattentive  to  prevent  a  permanent  debt ;  in  this  particular, 
also,  the  public  opinion  and  interest  have  been  consulted. 
On  considering  the  law,  as  well  as  the  manner  in  which  it 
is  proposed  to  be  carried  into  execution,  the  committee  are 
well  satisfied  in  finding  any  excess  in  the  immediate  charge 
upon  the  revenue  is  likely  to  be  compensated  by  the  facil 
ity  of  redemption,  which  is  secured  to  the  government. 

"  The  alien  and  sedition  acts,  so  called,  form  a  part, 
and,  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  an  essential  part  in 
these  precautionary  and  protective  measures  adopted  for 
our  security. 

"  France  appears  to  have  an  organized  system  of  con 
duct  towards  foreign  nations — to  bring  them  within  the 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  297 

sphere  and  under  the  dominion  of  her  influence  and  con 
trol.  It  has  been  unremittingly  pursued  under  all  the 
changes  of  her  internal  polity.  Her  means  are  in  wonder 
ful  coincidence  with  her  ends.  Among  these,  and  not  the 
least  successful,  is  the  direction  and  employment  of  the  ac 
tive  and  versatile  talents  of  her  citizens  abroad,  as  emissa 
ries  and  spies.  With  a  numerous  body  of  French  citizens 
and  other  foreigners,  and  admonished  by  the  passing  scenes 
in  other  countries,  as  well  as  by  aspects  in  our  own,  know 
ing  they  had  the  power,  and  believing  it  to  be  their  duty, 
congress  passed  the  law  respecting  aliens,  directing  the 
dangerous  and  suspected,  to  be  removed  and  leaving  to  the 
inoffensive  and  peaceable  a  safe  asylum. 

"  The  principles  of  the  sedition  law,  so  called,  are  among 
the  most  ancient  principles  of  our  governments.  They 
have  been  ingrafted  into  statutes,  or  practiced  upon  as  max 
ims  of  the  common  law,  according  as  occasion  required. 
They  were  often  and  justly  applied  in  the  revolutionary 
war.  Is  it  not  strange,  that  now  they  should  first  be  de 
nounced  as  oppressive,  when  they  have  long  been  recog 
nized  in  the  jurisprudence  of  these  states  ? 

"  The  necessity  that  dictated  these  acts,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  committee,  still  exists. 

"  So  eccentric  are  the  movements  of  the  French  govern 
ment,  we  can  form  no  opinion  of  their  future  designs  to 
wards  our  country.  They  may  recede  from  the  tone  of 
menace  and  insolence,  to  employ  the  arts  of  seduction,  be 
fore  they  astonish  us  with  their  ultimate  designs.  Our 
safety  consists  in  the  wisdom  of  the  public  councils,  a  co 
operation  on  the  part  of  the  people  with  the  government, 
by  supporting  the  measures  provided  for  repelling  aggres 
sions,  and  an  obedience  to  the  social  laws. 

"  After  a  particular  and  general  review  of  the  whole  sub 
ject  referred  to  their  consideration,  the  committee  see  no 


298  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

ground  for  rescinding  these  acts  of  the  legislature.  The 
complaints  preferred  by  some  of  the  petitioners  may  be  fair 
ly  attributed  to  a  diversity  of  sentiment  naturally  to  be  ex 
pected  among  a  people  of  various  habits  and  education 
widely  dispersed  over  an  extensive  country  ;  the  innocent 
misconceptions  of  the  American  people  will,  however,  yield 
to  reflection  and  argument,  and  from  them  no  danger  is  to 
apprehended. 

"  In  such  of  the  petitions  as  are  conceived  in  a  style  of 
vehement  and  acrimonious  remonstrance,  the  committee 
perceive  too  plain  indications  of  the  principles  of  that  exotic 
system  which  convulses  the  civilized  world.  With  this 
system,  however  organized,  the  public  councils  cannot 
safely  parley  or  temporize  ;  whether  it  assumes  the  guise  of 
patriotism  to  mislead  the  affections  of  the  people — whether 
it  be  employed  in  forming  projects  of  local  and  eccentric 
ambition,  or  shall  appear  in  the  more  generous  form  of 
open  hostility,  it  ought  to  be  regarded  as  the  bane  of  public 
as  well  as  private  tranquillity  and  order. 

"  Those  to  whom  the  management  of  public  affairs  is 
now  confided,  cannot  be  justified  in  yielding  any  establish 
ed  principles  of  law  or  government  to  the  suggestions  of 
modern  theory ;  their  duty  requires  them  to  respect  the 
lessons  of  experience,  and  transmit  to  posterity  the  civil 
and  religious  privileges  which  are  the  birth-right  of  our 
country,  and  which  it  was  the  great  object  of  our  happy 
constitution  to  secure  and  perpetuate. 

"  Impressed  with  these  sentiments,  the  committee  beg 
leave  to  report  the  following  resolutions  : — 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  inexpedient  to  repeal  the  act  pass 
ed  the  last  session,  entitled  "  An  act  concerning  aliens." 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  inexpedient  to  repeal  the  act  pass 
ed  the  last  session,  entitled  '  An  act  in  addition  to  the  [act 
entitled  An  act  for  the  punishment  of  certain  crimes  against 
the  United  States. ' 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  299 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  inexpedient  to  repeal  any  of  the 
laws  respecting  the  navy,  military  establishment  or  reve 
nue  of  the  United  States." 

This  report  is  inserted  at  length  on  account  of  its  great 
importance,  being  the  only  public  document  which  presents 
a  full  view  of  the  origin  of  the  alien  and  sedition  laws,  the 
principles  on  which  they  were  founded,  and  the  clear, 
sound,  and  unanswerable  constitutional  argument  by  which 
they  were  supported  and  justified.  Without  attempting, 
however,  to  overthrow,  or  even  to  answer  the  reasoning 
contained  in  it,  Mr.  Jefferson  laid  by  none  of  his  virulence 
and  animosity  towards  those  acts ;  but  made  use  of  them 
as  long  as  it  was  necessary  for  his  political  purposes,  to 
forward  his  own  views  and  vilify  his  opponents.  This  re 
port,  as  has  been  remarked,  was  dated  on  the  21st  of  Feb 
ruary,  1799.  On  the  26th  of  that  month,  in  a  letter  to 
James  Madison,  (Jeff.  Works,  vol.  3,  page  423,)  he  says, 
"  Yesterday  witnessed  a  scandalous  scene  in  the  house  of 
representatives.  It  was  the  day  for  taking  up  the  report  of 
their  committee  against  the  alien  and  sedition  laws,  &c. 
They  held  a  caucus  and  determined  that  not  a  word  should 
be  spoken  on  their  side,  in  answer  to  any  thing  which 
should  be  said  on  the  other.  Gallatin  took  up  the  alien 
and  Nicholas  the  sedition  law ;  but  after  a  little  while  of 
common  silence,  they  began  to  enter  into  loud  conversa 
tions,  laugh,  cough,  &c.,  so  that  for  the  last  hour  of  these 
gentlemen's  speaking  they  must  have  had  the  lungs  of  a 
vendue  master  to  have  been  heard.  Livingston,  however, 
attempted  to  speak.  But  after  a  few  sentences  the  speak 
er  called  him  to  order,  and  told  him  what  he  was  saying 
was  not  to  the  question.  It  was  impossible  to  proceed. 
The  question  was  taken  and  carried  in  favor  of  the  report, 
fifty-two  to  forty-eight;  the  real  strength  of  the  two  parties 
is  fifty-six  to  fifty." 


300  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

a 

During  the  same  session  of  congress  at  witch  the  alien 
and  sedition  laws  were  enacted,  the  following  act  was 
passed,  under  the  title  of  "  An  act  respecting  alien  ene 
mies." 

"  That,  whenever  there  shall  be  a  declared  war  between 
the  United  States  and  any  foreign  nation  or  government, 
or  any  invasion  or  predatory  incursion  shall  be  perpetrated, 
attempted  or  threatened,  against  the  territory  of  the  United 
States  by  any  foreign  nation  or  government,  and  the  pres 
ident  of  the  United  States  shall  make  public  proclamation 
of  the  event,  all  natives,  citizens,  denizens  or  subjects 
of  the  hostile  nation  or  government,  being  males  of  the 
age  of  ourteen  years  and  upwards,  who  shall  be  within 
the  United  States  and  not  actually  naturalized,  shall  be 
liable  to  be  apprehended,  restrained  secured,  and  removed, 
as  alien  enemies.  And  the  president  of  the  United  States 
shall  be,  and  he  is  hereby  authorized,  in  any  event,  as 
aforesaid,  by  his  proclamation  thereof,  or  other  public  act, 
to  direct  the  conduct  to  be  observed  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States  towards  the  aliens  who  shall  become  liable 
as  aforesaid,  the  manner  and  the  degree  of  the  restraint  to 
which  they  shall  be  subject,  and  in  what  cases  and  upon 
what  security  their  residence  shall  be  permitted,  and  to 
provide  for  the  removal  of  those  who,  not  being  permitted 
to  reside  within  the  United  States,  shall  refuse  or  neglect 
to  depart  therefrom,  and  establish  any  other  regulations 
which  shall  be  found  necessary  in  the  premises  and  for 
the  public  safety. 

"  That  after  any  proclamation  shall  be  made  as  afore 
said,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  several  courts  of  the  United 
States,  and  of  each  state  having  criminal  jurisdiction,  and  of 
the  several  judges  and  justices  of  the  courts  of  the  United 
States,  and  they  shall  be,  and  are  hereby  respectively  au 
thorized  upon  complaint,  against  any  alien  or  alien  ene- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  301 

mies,  as  aforesaid,  who  shall  be  resident  and  at  large, 
within  such  jurisdiction  or  district,  to  the  danger  of  the 
public  peace  or  safety  and  contrary  to  the  tenor  or  intent 
of  such  proclamation  or  other  regulations  which  the  presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  shall  and  may  establish  in  the 
premises,  to  cause  such  alien  or  aliens  to  be  duly  appre 
hended  and  convened  before  such  court,  judge,  or  justice; 
and  after  a  full  examination  or  hearing  on  such  complaint, 
and  sufficient  cause  therefor  appearing,  shall  and  may  or 
der  such  alien  or  aliens  to  be  removed  out  of  the  territory 
of  the  United  Stales,  or  to  give  sureties  of  their  good  be 
havior,  or  to  be  otherwise  restrained,  conformably  to  the 
proclamation  or  regulations  which  shall  and  may  be  estab 
lished  as  aforesaid,  and  may  imprison  or  otherwise  se 
cure  such  alien  or  aliens  until  the  order  which  shall  arid 
may  be  made,  as  aforesaid,  shall  be  performed." 

This  act  was  passed  without  any  provision  limiting  its 
duration,  and  it  is  now  in  the  statute  book  of  the  United 
States,  and  in  force ;  and  in  the  war  with  Great  Britain  in 
1812,  it  was  enforced  by  Mr.  Madison,  then  president  of 
the  United  States,  against  British  subjects  residing  in  the 
United  States,  numbers  of  whom  were  ordered  to  remove 
from  the  Atlantic  cities  back  into  the  country,  and  to  re 
main  there  until  the  return  of  peace. 

That  Mr.  Jelfersori's  hostility  to  the  alien  and  sedition 
law  proceeded,  in  some  measure  at  least,  from  feelings 
and  views  of  a  political  character,  rather  than  from  a  sin 
cere  conviction  that  they  were  unconstitutional,  may  be 
safely  inferred  from  what  has  been  said.  Additional  proof 
in  support  of  this  remark,  as  it  regards  the  alien  law,  may 
be  derived  from  Tucker's  Life  of  Jeilerson,  a  work  recent 
ly  published.  In  the  second  volume  of  the  work,  page  45, 
it  is  said,  "  During  the  ten  years  that  the  present  federal 
government  had  been  in  operation,  many  questions  had 
26 


302  THE    CHARACTER  OF 

arisen  concerning  the  interpretation  of  the  constitution. 
But  there  had  been  no  instance  in  which  the  opinion  that 
that  instrument  had  been  violated  was  so  decided,  or  in 
which  the  supposed  infraction  had  excited  so  much  sensi 
bility,  as  these  two  laws,  [alien  arid  sedition  laws,]  which 
were  always  coupled  together  in  the  public  mind  as  hav 
ing  originated  in  the  same  policy,  and  as  leading  to  the 
same  tendency.  But  in  point  of  fact  it  was  the  law  that 
abridged  the  freedom  of  the  press  which  was  most  looked 
at;  arid  the  other  was  condemned  by  most  Americans, 
like  the  stork  in  the  fable,  for  the  society  in  which  it  was 
found,  and  for  the  sake  of  soothing  the  great  mass  of  for 
eigners  who  were  not  yet  naturalized,  the  greater  part  of 
whom,  particularly  the  Irish  and  French,  were  attached  to 
the  republican  party" 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  perfectly  aware  of  the  importance  of 
securing  the  votes  as  well  as  the  feelings  of  the  foreigners, 
who  early  began  to  flock  in  great  numbers  to  this  country. 
Hence  he  recommended,  shortly  after  his  accession  to  the 
office  of  president,  an  alteration  in  the  naturalization  law, 
shortening  materially  the  period  of  residence  before  a  for 
eigner  could  be  admitted  to  the  rights  of  citizenship.  He 
knew  what  description  of  persons  would  be  the  most  likely 
to  quit  their  own  countries  and  take  refuge  in  the  United 
States,  and  that  a  little  flattery  and  a  show  of  regard  for 
their  welfare,  would  attach  them  to  his  interests  and  his 
party;  especially  as  it  was  called  "the  republican  party." 
These  considerations  very  naturally  would,  and  undoubt 
edly  did,  call  forth  his  enmity  to  the  alien  law;  and  coup 
ling  it  with  the  sedition  law,  which  had  reference  to  the 
press,  it  was  an  easy  task  for  him  to  excite  the  public  pas 
sions,  over  which  he  had  an  almost  absolute  command, 
against  both  these  measures.  Both  of  them  were  unques 
tionably  warranted  by  the  constitutional  authority  of  con- 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  303 

gress ;  but  in  hands  as  dextrous  as  his,  and  with  a  party 
as  blindly  devoted  to  their  leader  as  his  were,  it  accom 
plished  the  objects  he  had  in  view,  which  were,  to  elevate 
himself  and  depress  his  opponents. 

In  addition  to  what  has  been  adduced  in  vindication  of 
the  alien  and  sedition  laws,  and  in  support  of  their  consti 
tutionality,  the  following  extract  of  a  letter  from  gene 
ral  Washington  to  Alexander  Spotswood,  dated  Philadel 
phia,  November  22,  1798.  (Wash.  Corres.  vol.  11,  page 
345,)  containing  his  sentiments  on  that  subject,  will  be  cead 
with  interest: — 

"  Your  letter  of  the  13th  inst.  inclosing  a  publication 
under  the  signature  of  Gracchus  on  the  alien  and 'sedi 
tion  laws,  found  me  at  this  place  deeply  engaged  in  busi 
ness. 

"  You  ask  my  opinion  of  these  laws,  professing  to  place 
confidence  in  my  judgment.  For  this  compliment  I  thank 
you.  But  to  give  opinions  unsupported  by  reasons  might 
appear  dogmatical,  especially  as  you  have  de;  lared  that 
Gracchus  has  produced  'thorough  conviction  in  your  mind 
of  the  unconstitutionally  and  inexpediency  of  the  acts 
above  mentioned.'  To  go  into  an  explanation  on  these 
points  I  have  neither  leisure  nor  inclination,  because  it 
would  occupy  more  time  than  I  have  to  spare. 

"  But  I  will  take  the  liberty  of  advising  such  as  are  not 
'thoroughly  convinced,' and  whose  minds  are  yet  open  to 
conviction,  to  read  the  pieces  and  hear  the  arguments  which 
have  been  advanced  in  favor  of  as  well  as  those  against  the 
constitutionality  and  expediency  of  those  laws  before  they 
decide  ;  and  consider  to  what  lengths  a  certain  description 
of  men  in  our  country  have  already  driven,  and  seem  re 
solved  to  drive  matters,  and  then  ask  themselves  if  it  is 
not  time  and  expedient,  to  resort  to  protecting  laws  against 
aliens,  (for  citizens  you  certainly  know  are  not  affected  by 


304  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

that  law,)  who  acknowledge  no  allegiance  to  this  country, 
and  in  many  instances  are  sent  among  us,  as  there  is  the 
best  circumstantial  evidence  to  prove,  for  the  express  pur 
pose  of  poisoning  the  minds  of  our  people,  and  sowing 
dissensions  among  them,  in  order  to  alienate  their  affec 
tions  from  the  government  of  their  choice,  thereby  endeav 
oring  to  dissolve  the  union,  and  of  course  the  fair  and  hap 
py  prospects  which  were  unfolding  to  our  view  from  the 
revolution." 

In  a  letter  to  Bushrod  Washington,  dated  December  31r 
1798,  (Ibid.  386,)  is  the  following  passage  relating  to  the 
same  subject : — 

"  By  this  conveyance  I  have  sent  to  general  Marshall 
the  charge  of  judge  Addison  to  the  grand  juries  of  the 
county  courts  of  the  fifth  circuit  of  the  state  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  and  requested  him,  after  he  had  read  it,  to  give  it  to 
you,  or  dispose  of  it  in  any  other  manner  he  might  think 
proper.  This  charge  is  on  the  liberty  of  speech  and  the 
press,  and  is  a  justification  of  the  alien  and  sedition  laws. 

"  But  I  do  not  believe,  that  anything  contained  in  it,  in 
Evans's  pamphlet  or  in  any  other  writing,  will  produce  the 
least  change  in  the  conduct  of  the  leaders  of  opposition 
to  the  measures  of  the  general  government.  They  have 
points  to  carry,  from  which  no  reasoning,  no  inconsistency 
of  conduct,  no  absurdity,  can  divert  them.  If,  however, 
such  writings  should  produce  conviction  in  the  minds  of 
those  who  have  hitherto  placed  faith  in  their  assertions,  it 
will  be  a  fortunate  event  for  this  country." 

Various  prosecutions  were  brought  before  the  United 
States  courts  for  violations  of  the  sedition  law,  and  convic 
tions  obtained,  in  the  discussion  of  which  cases  the  consti 
tutionality  of  the  act  was  fully  considered  and  adjudicated, 
and  the  penalties  prescribed  in  it  were  enforced.  Still, 
Mr.  Jefferson's  opposition  to  both  the  laws  was  steady,  un- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  305 

remitted  and  vehement;  the  federalists  were  accused  of 
having  violated  the  constitution  in  enacting  both  the  stat 
utes,  and,  as  has  been  seen,  upon  coming  into  the  office 
of  president  of  the  United  States,  he  exercised  the  power 
of  pardoning  vested  in  hirn  by  the  constitution,  and  dis 
charged  every  person  convicted  under  the  sedition  law 
from  prison  and  punishment,  professedly  on  the  simple 
ground  that  the  law  was  unconstitutional,  and,  therefore, 
null  and  void.  And  it  is  well  known  to  every  person  who 
was  on  the  stage  of  life  at  the  time  and  paid  any  atten 
tion  to  passing  events,  that  he  was  more  indebted  to  the 
clamor  raised  by  himself  and  echoed  by  his  partizans 
against  these  two  acts  of  congress  as  being  unwarranted 
by  the  constitution,  than  to  any  other  cause,  for  the  success 
of  his  ambitious  project  of  raising  himself  to  the  chief 
magistracy  of  the  nation.  That  the  acts  were  clearly  con 
stitutional  no  intelligent  and  upright  mind,  after  examin 
ing  the  foregoing  report,  can  doubt.  That  the  clamor 
against  them  was  intended  for  party  purposes  and  personal 
interests  is  equally  unquestionable. 

At  the  circuit  court  of  the  United  States,  held  in  the 
district  of  Connecticut  in  April,  1806,  bills  for  libelous 
publications  were  found  against  three  persons,  viz  :  Thom 
as  Collier,  a  printer,  Thaddeus  Osgood,  a  young  clergy 
man,  and  Tappina  Reeve,  a  judge  of  the  superior  court  of 
that  state.  These  prosecutions  were  necessarily  at  com 
mon  law,  because  the  far-famed  sedition  law  had  expired, 
In  the  course  of  several  successive  terms  of  the  court,  an 
additional  number  of  prosecutions  for  seditious  and  libelous 
publications  were  instituted  against  different  persons.  After 
harrassing  the  defendants  in  these  cases  by  arrests,  holding 
to  bail,  attendance  from  term  to  term  upon  the  court,  em 
ploying  counsel,  and  in  all  the  variety  of  forms  in  which 
litigation  is  so  singularly  fertile,  they  nil  failed,  (with  the 
26*' 


306  THE    CHARACTER    OP 

exception,  perhaps,  of  one,)  either  for  insufficiency  in  the 
indictments,  the  want  of  jurisdiction  in  the  court,  or  by  the 
district  attorney  entering  nolle  prosequi.  The  expenses  to 
which  the  United  States  were  subjected  by  these  prosecu 
tions  must  have  been  very  large,  as  great  numbers  of  wit 
nesses  were  summoned  from  term  to  term,  and  in  attend 
ance  through  a  great  part  of  the  time  the  court  was  in 
session.  Several  of  these  cases  were  for  alleged  libels 
upon  Mr.  Jefferson  ;  and  they  were  instituted  and  con 
ducted  in  court  by  a  district  attorney  whom  he  had  ap 
pointed  to  the  office — an  officer  who  must,  of  course,  have 
possessed  his  confidence.  On  the  22d  of  January,  1807, 
during  Mr.  Jefferson's  administration,  a  member  of  the 
house  of  representatives  of  the  United  States  from  the 
state  of  Connecticut,  introduced  to  that  house  the  following 
resolution.  "  Resolved,  that  the  secretary  of  the  treasury 
be  directed  to  lay  before  this  house  copies  of  the  accounts 
containing  the  respective  charges  which  have  been  adjust 
ed  by  the  accounting  officers  of  the  treasury  in  cases  of 
public  prosecutions  before  the  circuit  court  of  the  United 
States,  holden  in  the  district  of  Connecticut,  in  the  months 
of  April  and  September,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  six."  On  the  28th  of  January,  1807,  "  The 
speaker  laid  before  the  house  a  letter  from  the  secretary 
of  the  treasury,  inclosing  copies  of  the  accounts  of  expenses 
incurred  in  public  prosecutions  before  the  circuit  court  of 
the  United  States  for  the  district  of  Connecticut,  in  the 
months  of  April  and  September,  one  thousand  eight  hun 
dred  and  six,  in  obedience  to  a  resolution  of  the  house,  of 
the  twenty-second  instant,  which  were  read  and  ordered  to 
be  committed  to  the  committee  of  the  whole  house,  to  whom 
was  committed,  on  the  second  instant,  a  motion  for  the  ap 
pointment  of  a  committee  '  to  inquire  whether  prosecutions 
at  common  law  could  be  sustained  in  the  courts  of  the 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON. 


307 


United  States  for  libelous  publications  or  defamatory 
words,  touching  persons  holding  offices  or  places  of  trust 
under  the  United  States;  and  whether  it  would  not  be 
proper,  if  the  same  be  sustained,  to  allow  the  parties  pros 
ecuted  the  liberty  of  giving  the  truth  in  evidence.'  " 

Among  these  prosecutions  was   one  against  the  Rev. 
Azel  Backus,  of  Bethlehem,  in  the  state  of  Connecticut,  a 
clergyman  of  distinguished  talents  and  highly  esteemed 
for  learning  and  piety.     After  the  expiration  of  the  sedi 
tion  law  of  the  United  States,  which  contained  a  provision 
authorizing,  in  prosecutions  under  it,  the  truth  to  be  given 
in  evidence  in  justification  of  the  party  prosecuted,  the  le 
gislature  of  Connecticut  passed  an  act  with  a  similar  pro 
vision.     Finding  that  the  district  attorney  appeared  to  be 
determined,   first  or  last,   to   bring  the  case  against  Dr. 
Backus  to  trial,  a  messenger  was  despatched  in  his  behalf 
to  Virginia,  to  summon  witnesses  from  that  state  to  prove 
the  truth  of  the  matters  alleged  against  him  in  the  indict 
ment.     One  of  those  witnesses  was  the  honorable  James 
Madison,  then  secretary  of  state  and  afterwards  president 
of  the  United  States.      Upon  ascertaining  what  testimony 
would  be  required  of  him,  he  informed  Mr.  Jefferson  that 
he  had  been  called  upon  to  testify,  and  what  would  be  the 
nature  of  the  testimony  which  was  expected  from  him. 
Upon  learning  this,  and,  at  the  same  time,  being  informed 
that  several  other  witnesses  had  been  summoned  to  attend 
the  court,  Mr.  Jefferson  gave  notice  to  them  that  they  need 
not  obey  the  summons,  as  the  cases  would  be  disposed   of 
without  trial ;  and  they,  therefore,  did  not  attend.     These 
facts  were  stated  in  open  court  by  Dr.  Backus's  counsel ; 
the  case  against  him  was  continued  to  another  term  of  the 
court,  and  eventually  was  dismissed  without  trial. 

In  the  4th  volume  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  works,  page  129, 
is  a  letter  from  him  to  Wilson  C.  Nicholas,  dated  June  13, 
1809,  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract:— 


308  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

"  I  had  observed  in  a  newspaper  (some  years  ago,  I  do 
not  recollect  the  time  exactly,)  some  dark  hints  of  a  prose 
cution  in  Connecticut,  but  so  obscurely  hinted  that  I  paid 
little  attention  to  it.  Some  considerable  time  after  it  was 
again  mentioned,  so  that  I  understood  that  some  prosecu 
tion  was  going  on  in  the  federal  court  there  for  calumnies 
uttered  from  the  pulpit  against  me  by  a  clergyman.  I 
immediately  wrote  to  Mr.  Granger,  who,  I  think,  was  in 
Connecticut  at  the  time,  stating,  that  I  had  laid  it  down  as 
a  law  to  myself  to  take  no  notice  of  the  thousand  calum 
nies  issued  against  me,  but  to  trust  my  character  to  my 
own  conduct  and  the  good  sense  and  candor  of  my  fellow- 
citizens  ;  that  I  had  found  no  reason  to  be  dissatisfied  with 
that  course,  and  I  was  unwilling  it  should  be  broke  through 
by  others  as  to  any  matter  concerning  me  ;  and  I  therefore 
requested  him  to  desire  the  district  attorney  to  dismiss  the 
prosecution.  Some  time  after  this,  I  heard  of  subposnas 
being  served  on  general  Lee,  Davi«LM.  Randolph  and  oth 
ers,  as  witnesses  to  attend  the  trial.  I  then,  for  the  first 
time,  conjectured  the  subject  of  the  libel.  I  immediately 
wrote  to  Mr.  Granger  to  require  an  immediate  dismission 
of  the  prosecution.  The  answer  of  Mr.  Huntington,  the 
district  attorney,  was,  that  these  subpoenas  had  been  issued 
by  the  defendant  without  his  knowledge ;  that  it  had  been 
his  intention  to  dismiss  all  the  prosecutions  at  the  first 
meeting  of  the  court,  and  to  accompany  it  with  an  avowal 
of  his  opinion  that  they  could  not  be  maintained,  because 
the  federal  court  had  no  jurisdiction  over  libels.  This 
was  accordingly  done.  I  did  not  till  then  know  that  there 
were  other  prosecutions  of  the  same  nature,  nor  do  I  now 
know  what  were  their  subjects,  but  all  went  off  together ; 
and  I  afterwards  saw,  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Granger,  a  let 
ter  written  by  the  clergyman,  disavowing  all  personal  ill- 
will  towards  me,  and  solemnly  declaring  he  had  never  ut- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  309 

tered  the  words  charged.  I  think  Mr.  Granger  either 
showed  me  or  said  there  were  affidavits  of  at  least  half  a 
dozen  respectable  men,  who  were  present  at  the  sermon, 
and  swore  no  such  expressions  were  uttered,  and  as  many 
equally  respectable  who  swore  the  contrary.  But  the 
clergyman  expressed  his  gratification  at  the  dismission  of 
the  prosecution.  I  write  all  this  from  memory,  and  after 
too  long  an  interval  of  time  to  be  certain  of  the  exactness 
of  all  the  details;  but  I  am  sure  there  is  no  variation  ma 
terial,  and  Mr.  Granger,  correcting  small  laxes  of  memory, 
can  confirm  everything  substantial.  Certain  it  is  that  the 
prosecutions  had  been  instituted,  and  had  made  consider 
able  progress,  without  my  knowledge ;  that  they  were 
disapproved  of  by  me  as  soon  as  known,  and  directed  to 
be  discontinued.  The  attorney  did  it  on  the  same  ground 
on  which  I  had  acted  myself  in  the  cases  of  Duane,  Cal- 
lendar  and  others ;  to  wit,  that  the  sedition  law  was  un 
constitutional  and  nail,  And  my  obligation  to  execute  what 
was  law  involved  that  of  not  suffering  rights  secured  by 
valid  laws  to  be  prostrated  by  what  was  no  law.  I  always 
understood  that  the  prosecutions  had  been  invited  by  judge 
Edwards,  and  the  marshal!,  being  republican,  had  sum 
moned  a  grand  jury  partly  or  wholly  republican  ;  but  that 
Mr.  Huntington  declared  from  the  beginning  against  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  court,  and  had  determined  to  enter  nolle 
prosegui  before  he  received  my  directions." 

In  the  year  1808,  a  pamphlet  was  published  in  Connect 
icut,  under  the  title  of  "A  LETTER  TO  THE  PRESIDENT  OF 
THE  UNITED  STATES,  touching  the  prosecutions  under  his 
patronage  before  the  circuit  court  in  the  district  of  Con 
necticut  ;  containing  a  faithful  narrative  of  the  extraor 
dinary  measures  pursued,  and  of  the  incidents,  both  serious 
and  laughable,  that  occurred  during  the  pendency  of  these 
abortive  prosecutions."  This  publication  was  understood 


310  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

at  the  time  to  have  been  written  by  a  gentleman  of  the 
bar,  of  the  highest  respectability  for  talents  and  character, 
who,  having  been  engaged  as  counsel  in  the  prosecutions 
alluded  to,  was  perfectly  acquainted  with  their  origin,  pro 
gress  and  termination.  The  facts,  and  the  dates  which 
he  gives,  will  enable  any  person  to  form  an  opinion  re 
specting  the  truth  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  declarations  to  Mr. 
Nicholas  respecting  his  want  of  knowledge  of  the  exist 
ence  of  the  cases,  and  of  the  time  and  manner  of  his  first 
becoming  acquainted  with  their  having  been  instituted. 
The  facts  that  the  indictments  for  libels  were  found  by 
the  grand  jury,  the  parties  arrested,  brought  before  the 
court  and  admitted  to  bail,  the  cases  continued ;  that 
the  indictments  were  quashed  for  insufficiency,  renewed, 
continued  and  quashed  again,  or  voluntarily  withdrawn 
by  the  prosecuting  attorney,  were  all  matters  of  so  much 
notoriety,  of  such  common  conversation  and  of  newspaper 
commentary,  that  if  the  subject  had  not  been,  as  has  been 
stated,  brought  before  congress  and  made  the  subject  of 
inquiry  there,  it  would  have  been  little  short  of  marvelous 
if  the  knowedge  of  the  existence  of  these  prosecutions  had 
not  reached  the  ears  of  Mr.  Jefferson. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  editor's  preface  to 
Hampden's  pamphlet :  — 

"  It  is  a  subject  of  some  regret  that  Hampden  has  not 
interwoven  with  his  narrative  a  detailed  statement  of  the 
measures  taken  by  the  president  to  prevent  the  witnesses 
summoned  in  Virginia,  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Backus,  from 
attending  the  court,  together  with  certain  et  ceteras  con 
nected  therewith.  This  is  a  very  curious  history !  It  will 
be  laid  before  the  public."  The  reason  is  then  stated,  and 
the  author  of  the  preface  proceeds  to  remark  as  follows, — 

"  In  one  of  the  southern  states,  a  few  months  since,  I 
became  acquainted  with  the  gentleman  who  summoned 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  311 

the  several  witnesses  in  Virginia ;    among  whom   were 
colonel  Walker  and  Mr.  Madison.     This  gentleman  in 
formed  me  that  he  saw  and  conversed  freely  with  the  for 
mer,  and  was  assured  by  him  that,  painful  as  was  the  na 
ture  of  the  summons  served  on  him,  he  should  obey  the 
mandate  of  the  court,  and  must  consequently  testify  to  all 
the  material  facts  alleged  in  the  public  prints  respecting 
Mr.   Jefferson's  conduct  towards   his   lady.     He   further 
stated  to  my  informant,  (what  was  previously  understood 
to  be  the  fact,)  that  Mr.   Madison  was  the  person  confi 
dentially  employed  by  Mr.  Jefferson  to  effect,  if  possible, 
a  reconciliation  for  the  insult,  and  was  the  bearer  of  several 
letters  to  him  on  the  subject.     Having  summoned  colonel 
Walker  and  two  or  three  other  witnesses,  my  informant 
proceeded  to  the  seat  of  Mr.  Madison  with  a  subpcena  for 
his  attendance.     But  while  there  that  gentleman  received 
a  letter  from  the  president,  a  part  of  which  letter  he  read, 
acquainting  him,  (Mr.  M.)  that,  in  case  he  should  be  sub- 
prenaed  his  attendance  would  be  unnecessary,  as  the  in 
dictment  against  Mr.  Backus  was  to  receive  a  quietus. 
The   other  witnesses    summoned    in   Virginia  were   fur 
nished  with  notifications  of  similar  import,   and  conse 
quently  neither  of  them  attended  the  court."     This  pas 
sage  is  cited  for  the  purpose  of  adding  strength  to  the  pre 
sumption  that  Mr.  Jefferson's  declarations  in  his  letter  to 
Mr.  Nicholas  respecting  these  cases  cannot  be  true. 


312  THE    CHARACTER    OF 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

The  Federalists  believed  Mr.  Jefferson  insincere  and  hypocritical — 
Professed  great  friendship  for  John  Adams  in  a  letter  to  Mrs. 
Adams,  in  1804 — In  a  letter  to  general  Washington,  in  1791,  he 
charges  Mr.  Adams  with  apostacy  to  monarchy — The  friendly 
intercourse  between  them  not  interrupted  by  this  apostacy,  but 
by  Mr.  Adams's  appointments  to  office  at  the  close  of  his  admin 
istration—Apparent  that  Jefferson  had,  upon  coming  into  the 
secretary  of  state's  office,  laid  his  plan  to  place  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  government— Hamilton,  being  a  more  formidable  ob 
stacle  to  his  ambition  than  Adams,  became  the  object  of  peculiar 
animosity — Correspondence  between  general  Washington  and 
Jefferson  and  Hamilton,  in  August,  1792,  respecting  dissensions 
in  the  cabinet — Washington's  letter  to  Jefferson — Letter  to  Ham 
ilton — Mr.  Jefferson's  answer,  September,  1792 — Reasons  for  em 
ploying  Freneau — Objections  to  the  constitution,  that  it  wanted  a 
bill  of  rights,  &c. — Says  Hamilton's  objection  was,  that  it  wanted 
a  king  and  house  of  lords — Hamilton  made  great  exertions  in  the 
formation  and  adoption  of  the  constitution — Jefferson  did  nothing 
— Hamilton's  answer  to  Washington's  letter,  August,  1792 — 
Washington's  confidence  in  Hamilton  never  shaken  by  Jeffer 
son's  attempts  to  that  end — Jefferson  never  appealed  to  the  coun 
try,  as  suggested  in  his  letter. 

r  ONE  great  objection  that  the  federalists  had  to  Mr.  Jef- 
'  ferson  was,  that  they  believed  him  to  be  habitually  insin 
cere  and  hypocritical — that  in  his  professions  of  esteem, 
respect  and  even  friendship,  for  many  individuals,  he  was 
deceitful  and  hollow-hearted — that  his  devotion  to  the  peo 
ple's  rights  was  affected  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  popu 
larity,  and  opening  the  way  for  the  accomplishment  of  his 
future  views  of  personal  aggrandizement.  Hence  they 
viewed  his  affectation  of  a  superior  regard  for  republican- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON. 


313 


isrn  as  designed  to  forward  his  plans  for  the  establishment 
of  a  political  party,  for  the  purpose  of  gratifying  his  own 
ambitious  feelings  and  projects.  In  pursuance  of  this  gen 
eral  scheme  of  political  selfishness,  he  had  the  assurance, 
in  a  sly  and  underhand  manner,  to  charge  his  associates  in 
the  government,  particularly  Hamilton,  Knox,  and  even 
Washington,  with  not  only  entertaining  monarchical  senti 
ments,  but  some  of  them  with  the  adoption  of  measures 
intended  eventually  to  change  the  form  of  the  government 
and  introduce  a  monarchy  in  its  stead.  In  his  correspon 
dence  towards  the  close  of  his  life,  it  has  been  seen  by  ex 
tracts  from  his  letters  to  Mrs.  Adams,  as  well  as  to  Mr. 
Adams  himself,  that  he  professed  an  old,  long  standing, 
cordial,  and  warm  attachment  to  that  gentleman — that  a 
friendship  which  commenced  in  early  life  had  been  con 
tinued  through  all  the  trials  and  vicissitudes  of  their  pub 
lic  career;  and  finally,  when  both  were  advanced  to  ex 
treme  old  age,  it  glowed  with  all  the  fervor  of  youth. 

In  his  letter  to  Mrs.  Adams  of  June  18,  1804,  which  has 
been  referred  to  in  this  work,  and  which  contained  the  first 
overture  for  the  renewal  of  their  friendly  intercourse,  Mr. 
Jefferson  says,  "  Mr.  Adams's  friendship  and  mine  began 
at  an  earlier  date.  It  accompanied  us  through  long  and 
important  scenes.  The  different  conclusions  we  had  drawn 
from  our  political  reading  and  reflections  were  not  permit 
ted  to  lessen  mutual  esteem  ;  each  party  being  conscious 
they  were  the  result  of  an  honest  conviction  in  the  other." 
And  he  adds,  "  I  can  say  with  truth,  that  one  act  of  Mr. 
Adams's  life,  and  one  only,  ever  gave  me  a  moment's  per 
sonal  displeasure."  He  then  refers  to  the  last  appoint 
ments  by  Mr.  Adams,  just  as  his  administration  was  com 
ing  to  a  close. 

The  letter  from  which  these  passages  are  copied,  is  da 
ted,  it  will  be  recollected,  in  1804.     In  a  letter  to  general 
27 


314  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

Washington,  written  in  1791 — twenty-three  years  before, 
and  but  a  little  more  than  a  year  after  he  entered  the  office 
of  secretary  of  state — he  charges  Mr.  Adams,  in  direct 
terms,  with  apostacy  to  hereditary  monarchy  and  nobility. 
He  does,  indeed,  express  some  apprehensions  that  the  in 
discretion  of  a  printer  may  have  committed  him  with  his 
friend  Mr.  Adams,  "  for  whom,  as  one  of  the  most  honest 
and  disinterested  men  alive,  he  had  a  cordial  esteem,  in 
creased  by  long  habits  of  concurrence  in  opinion  in  the  days 
of  his  republicanism,  and  even  since  his  apostacy  to  heredi 
tary  monarchy  and  nobility,  though  we  differ,  we  differ  as 
friends  should  do." 

The  charge  of  entertaining  monarchical  sentiments,  ac 
cording  to  Mr.  Jefferson's  view  of  the  subject,  was  one  of 
the  most  aggravated  in  the  whole  catalogue  of  political  of 
fences.  In  the  case  of  general  Hamilton,  against  whom 
he  steadily  and  perseveringly  alleged  it,  it  was  the  basis 
of  the  deepest  and  most  envenomed  reproach.  When  wri 
ting  his  note  to  the  printer  of  the  Rights  of  Man,  he  ex 
presses  his  gratification  that  that  work  was  to  be  printed, 
that  something  was  likely  to  be  said  against  the  political 
heresies  that  had  lately  sprung  up  among  us.  In  this  last 
remark,  he  acknowledges  he  had  in  view  the  Discourses  on 
Davila — a  work  of  which  it  was  well  known  Mr.  Adams 
was  the  author.  And  yet,  more  than  twenty  years  after- 
Avards,  when  he  was  endeavoring,  through  a  correspon 
dence  with  Mrs.  Adams,  to  cajole  Mr.  Adams  to  a  recon 
ciliation,  after  expressing  the  early  and  long  continued 
friendship  that  had  existed  between  them,  he  says,  there 
never  had  been  but  a  single  act  of  his  that  had  given  him 
(Mr.  Jefferson)  personal  displeasure.  That  act  was,  not 
his  apostatizing  from  republicanism  to  monarchical  princi 
ples — not  because  Mr.  Adams  was  plotting  treason  against 
the  constitution  and  government  of  his  country,  by  endeav- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON. 


315 


oring  to  change  it  from  a  republic  to  a  monarchy  :  these,  it 
would  seem,  were  not  of  sufficient  importance  to  check  or 
interrupt  the  tide  of  friendship  which  had  so  long  flowed 
between  them.  It  was  a  matter  of  deeper  interest  than 
these.  It  was  the  nomination  of  a  number  of  distinguish 
ed  persons  to  be  judges  of  the  courts,  or  to  other  offices, 
whose  only  disqualification  was  that  they  were  federalists 
— who,  he  says,  were  his  ardent  political  enemies,  from 
whom  he  could  expect  no  faithful  co-operation.  Laying 
plots  for  the  overthrow  of  the  constitution  and  government 
with  a  design  to  change  our  system  from  a  republic  to  a 
monarchy,  gave  him  no  personal  uneasiness  ;  whilst  the  ap 
pointment  of  federalists  to  office  was  a  serious  injury  to 
his  feelings,  and  a  mark  of  personal  hostility  on  the  part  of 
Mr.  Adams. 

It  is  perfectly  apparent  from  the  contents  of  the  letter 
from  Mr.  Jefferson  to  general  Washington,  that  the  for 
mer  had,  immediately  after  coming  into  the  government, 
laid  the  plan  by  which  he  intented  to  place  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  nation.  That  plan  was  to  form  a  political 
party  upon  the  captivating  basis  of  republicanism  in  op 
position  to  the  federalists,  to  charge  the  latter  witk  mo 
narchical  principles  and  designs,  render  them  suspected 
and  odious,  and  establish  himself  and  his  followers  as  the 
ardent  and  exclusive  friends  of  the  people,  and  thus  accom 
plish  the  grand  objects  of  his  life,  viz.  personal  popularity 
and  political  aggrandizement.  In  the  case  of  general  Ham 
ilton,  monarchical  sentiments,  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  view, 
constituted  a  most  atrocious  offence  against  the  nation. 
Similar  sentiments,  as  it  regarded  Mr.  Adams,  though  ori 
ginally  stamped  with  apostacy,  formed  nothing  more  seri 
ous  than  an  honest  difference  of  opinion  between  friends. 
General  Hamilton  was  obviously,  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  view, 
a  much  more  formidable  obstacle  in  the  way  of  his  ambi- 


316  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

tion,  than  Mr.  Adams.  Hence  the  extreme  heinousness 
of  the  principles  ascribed  to  the  former  beyond  those  of  the 
latter.  But  the  duplicity  which  could  adopt  such  different 
language,  and  express  such  different  feelings,  respecting 
the  same  person,  as  he  did  towards  Mr.  Adams,  if  there 
were  no  other  proof  to  support  the  charge,  would  stamp 
him  with  deep  and  disgraceful  dissimulation  and  hypocrisy. 

It  has  been  seen,  that  Mr.  Jefferson,  by  his  own  state 
ments,  charged  general  Hamilton  frequently,  in  conversa 
tion  with  general  Washington,  not  only  with  entertaining 
monarchical  sentiments,  but  having  designs  of  changing 
the  government  of  the  United  States  into  a  monarchy. 
By  the  following  correspondence  it  will  appear,  that  on 
one  occasion,  at  least,  he  put  his  sentiments  on  that  subject 
into  writing,  and  entered  into  many  particulars  to  convince 
general  Washington  of  the  truth  of  his  allegations.  The 
dissensions  in  his  cabinet,  and  particularly  between  the 
secretaries  of  state  and  the  treasury,  had,  as  early  as  the 
the  year  1792,  become  so  serious  as  not  only  to  cause  him 
much  inconvenience,  but  to  excite  in  his  mind  many  fears 
that  if  continued  they  must  result  in  very  important  con 
sequences  to  the  government.  In  order  to  avoid  such  an 
evil,  and,  if  possible,  to  reconcile  these  high  officers  of  the 
government,  he  addressed  to  each  of  them  a  letter  on  the 
subject,  and  received  from  each  his  answer.  Neither  of 
these  documents  appears  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  correspondence 
published  since  his  death.  They  are  all  copied  from  gen 
eral  Washington's  Writings,  published  by  Mr.  Sparks,  in 
1836. 

The  letter  to  Mr.  Jefferson  is  dated  the  23d  of  August, 
1792,  and  the  following  is  an  extract  from  it : — 

"How  unfortunate,  and  how  much  to  be  regretted  is  it, 
that  while  we  are  encompassed  on  all  sides  with  avowed 
enemies  and  insidious  friends,  internal  dissensions  should 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  317 

be  harrowing  and  tearing  our  vitals.  The  latter,  to  me, 
is  the  most  serious,  the  most  alarming,  and  the  most  afflict 
ing  of  the  two ;  and,  without  more  charity  for  the  opinions 
and  acts  of  one  another  in  governmental  matters,  or  some 
more  infallihle  criterion  by  which  the  truth  of  speculative 
opinions,  before  they  have  undergone  the  test  of  experi 
ence,  are  to  be  forejudged,  than  has  yet  fallen  to  the  lot  of 
fallibility,  I  believe  it  will  be  difficult,  if  not  impracticable, 
to  manage  the  reins  of  government,  or  to  keep  the  parts  of 
it  together;  for  if,  instead  of  laying  our  shoulders  to  the 
machine  after  measures  are  decided  on,  one  pulls  this  way 
and  another  that,  before  the  utility  of  the  thing  is  fairly 
tried,  it  must  inevitably  be  torn  asunder;  and  in  my  opin 
ion,  the  fairest  prospect  of  happiness  and  prosperity  that 
ever  was  presented  to  man  will  be  lost  perhaps  forever. 

"  My  earnest  wish  and  my  fondest  hope,  therefore,  is, 
that  instead  of  wounding  suspicions  and  irritating  charges, 
there  may  be  liberal  allowances,  mutual  forbearances,  and 
temporizing  yieldings  on  all  sides.  Under  the  exercise 
of  these,  matters  will  go  on  smoothly,  and,  if  possible, 
more  prosperously.  Without  them,  everything  must  rub; 
the  wheels  of  government  will  clog  ;  our  enemies  will  tri 
umph,  arid  by  throwing  their  weight  into  the  disaffected 
scale,  may  accomplish  the  ruin  of  the  goodly  fabric  we 
have  been  erecting." 

On  the  26th  of  the  same  month,  in  the  same  year,  he- 
wrote  a  letter  to  general  Hamilton,  then  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  from  which  the  following  is  an  extract :  — 

"  Differences  in  political  opinions  are  as  unavoidable  as, 
to  a  certain  point,  they  may  perhaps  be  necessary;  but  it 
is  exceedingly  to  be  regretted,  that  subjects  cannot  be  dis 
cussed  with  temper  on  the  one  hand,  or  decisions  submit 
ted  to  without  having  the  motives  which  led  to  them  im- 
27* 


318 


THE    CHARACTER    OF 


properly  implicated  on  the  other ;  and  this  regret  borders 
on  chagrin,  when  we  find  that  men  of  abilities,  zealous 
patriots,  having  the  same  general  objects  in  view,  and  the 
same  upright  intentions  to  prosecute  them,  will  not  exer 
cise  more  charity  in  deciding  on  the  opinions  and  actions 
of  one  another.  When  matters  get  to  such  lengths,  the 
natural  inference  is,  that  both  sides  have  strained  the  cords 
beyond  their  bearing,  and  that  a  middle  course  would  be 
found  the  best  until  experience  shall  have  decided  on  the 
right  way,  or  (which  is  not  to  be  expected,  because  it  is 
denied  to  mortals)  there  shall  be  some  infallible  rule  by 
which  we  could  forejudge  events. 

"  Having  premised  these  things,  I  would  fain  hope  that 
liberal  allowences  will  be  made  for  the  political  opinions  of 
each  other;  and  instead  of  those  wounding  suspicions 
and  irritating  charges  with  which  some  of  our  gazettes 
are  so  strongly  impregnated,  and  which  cannot  fail,  if  per 
severed  in,  of  pushing  matters  to  extremity  and  thereby 
tearing  the  machine  asunder,  that  there  may  be  mutual 
forbearance  and  temporizing  yielding  on  all  sides.  With 
out  these  I  do  not  see  how  the  reins  of  government  are  to 
be  managed,  or  how  the  union  of  the  states  can  be  much 
longer  preserved. 

"  How  unfortunate  wTould  it  be  if  a  fabric  so  goodly,  erect 
ed  under  so  many  providential  circumstances,  and  in  its 
first  stages  having  acquired  such  respectability,  should, 
from  diversity  of  sentiments  or  internal  obstructions 
some  of  the  acts  of  government,  (for  I  cannot  prevail  on 
myself  to  believe  that  these  measures  are  as  yet  the  de 
liberate  acts  of  a  determined  party,)  be  brought  ta  the 
verge  of  dissolution.  Melancholy  thought !  But,  at  the 
same  time  that  it  shows  the  consequences  of  diversified 
opinion  when  pushed  with  too  much  tenacity,  it  exhibits 
evidence  also  of  the  necessity  of  accommodation,  and  of 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  319 

the  propriety  of  adopting  such  healing  measures  as  may 
restore  harmony  to  the  discordant  members  of  the  union 
and  the  governing  powers  of  it." 

On  the  9th  of  September,  1792,  Mr.  Jefferson  replied  to 
general  Washington  in  a  letter  from  which  the  following 
extract  is  taken  : — 

"  I  now  take  the  liberty  of  proceeding  to  that  part  of  your 
letter  wherein  you  notice  the  internal  dissensions  which 
have  taken  place  within  our  government,  and  their  disa 
greeable  effect  on  its  movements.  That  such  dissensions 
have  taken  place  is  certain,  and  even  among  those  who  are 
nearest  to  you  in  the  administration.  To  no  one  have  they 
given  deeper  concern  than  myself;  to  no  one  equal  morti 
fication  at  being  myself  a  part  of  them.  Though  I  take 
to  myself  no  more  than  my  share  of  the  general  observa 
tions?  of  your  letter,  yet  I  am  so  desirous  even  that  you 
should  know  the  whole  truth,  I  believe  no  more  than  the 
truth,  that  I  am  glad  to  seize  every  occasion  of  developing 
to  you  whatever  I  do  or  think  relative  to  the  government, 
and  shall  therefore  ask  permission  to  be  more  lengthy  now 
than  the  occasion  particularly  calls  for,  or  would  other 
wise  perhaps  justify. 

"  When  I  embarked  in  the  government,  it  was  with  a 
determination  to  intermeddle  not  at  all  with  the  legisla 
ture,  and  as  little  as  possible  with  my  co-departments. 
The  first  and  only  instance  of  variance  from  the  former 
part  of  my  resolution,  I  was  duped  into  by  the  secretary 
of  the  treasury,  and  made  a  tool  for  forwarding  his  schemes, 
not  then  sufficiently  understood  by  me ;  and  of  all  the 
errors  of  my  political  life,  this  has  occasioned  me  the  deep 
est  regret.  It  has  ever  been  my  purpose  to  explain  this  to 
you,  when  from  being  actors  on  the  scene  we  shall  have 
become  uninterested  spectators  only.  The  second  part  of 
my  resolution  has  been  religiously  observed  with  the  war 


320  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

department ;  and,  as  to  that  of  the  treasury,  has  never  been 
farther  swerved  from  than  by  the  mere  enunciation  of  my 
sentiments  in  conversation,  and  chiefly  among  those  who, 
expressing  the  same  sentiments,  drew  mine  from  me. 

"If  it  has  been  supposed  that  I  have  ever  intrigued 
among  the  members  of  the  legislature  to  defeat  the  plans 
of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  it  is  contrary  to  all  truth. 
As  I  never  had  the  desire  to  influence  the  members,  so 
neither  had  I  any  other  means  than  my  friendship,  which 
I  valued  too  highly  to  risk  by  usurpations  on  their  freedom 
of  judgement  and  the  conscientious  pursuit  of  their  own 
sense  of  duty.  That  I  have  utterly,  in  my  private  conver 
sations,  disapproved  of  the  system  of  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  I  acknowledge  and  avow  ;  and  this  was  not  mere 
ly  a  speculative  difference.  His  system  flowed  from  prin 
ciples  adverse  to  liberty,  and  was  calculated  to  undermine 
and  demolish  the  republic,  by  creating  an  influence  of  his 
department  over  the  members  of  the  legislature.  I  saw 
this  influence  actually  produced,  and  its  first  fruits  to  be 
the  establishment  of  the  great  outlines  of  his  project  by  the 
votes  of  the  very  persons,  who,  having  swallowed  his  bait, 
were  laying  themselves  out  to  profit  by  his  plans ;  and 
that,  had  these  persons  withdrawn,  as  those  interested  in 
a  question  ever  should,  the  vote  of  the  disinterested  major 
ity  was  clearly  the  reverse  of  what  they  made  it.  These 
were  no  longer  the  votes  then  of  the  representatives  of  the 
people,  but  of  deserters  from  the  rights  and  interests  of  the 
people ;  and  it  was  impossible  to  consider  their  decisions, 
which  had  nothing  in  view  but  to  enrich  themselves,  as 
the  measures  of  the  fair  majority,  which  ought  always  to 
be  respected. 

"If  what  was  actually  doing  begat  uneasiness  in  those 
who  wished  for  virtuous  government,  what  was  further 
proposed  was  not  less  threatening  to  the  friends  of  the  con- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  321 

stitution.  For,  in  a  report  on  the  subject  of  manufactures 
(still  to  be  acted  on)  it  was  expressly  assumed,  that  the 
general  government  has  a  right  to  exercise  all  powers 
which  may  be  for  the  general  welfare,  that  is  to  say,  all  the 
legitimate  powers  of  government ;  since  no  government 
has  a  legitimate  right  to  do  what  is  not  for  the  welfare  of 
the  governed.  There  was  indeed  a  sham  limitation  of  the 
universality  of  this  power  to  cases  where  money  is  to  be 
employed.  But  about  what  is  it  that  money  cannot  be  em 
ployed  ?  Thus  the  object  of  these  plans  taken  together  is 
to  draw  all  the  powers  of  government  into  the  hands  of 
the  general  legislature,  to  establish  means  for  corrupting 
a  sufficient  corps  in  that  legislature  to  divide  the  honest 
votes,  and  preponderate  by  their  own  the  scale  which  suit 
ed,  and  to  have  that  corps  under  the  command  of  the  sec 
retary  of  the  treasury  for  the  purpose  of  subverting  step 
by  step  the  principles  of  the  constitution,  which  he  has  so 
often  declared  to  be  a  thing  of  nothing,  which  must  be 
changed. 

"  Such  views  might  have  justified  something  more  than, 
mere  expressions  of  dissent,  beyond  which,  nevertheless,  I 
never  went.  Has  abstinence  from  the  department  commit 
ted  to  me  been  equally  observed  by  him  ?  To  say  nothing 
of  other  interferences  equally  known,  in  the  case  of  the  two 
nations  with  which  we  have  the  most  intimate  connexions, 
France  and  England,  my  system  was  to  give  some  satis 
factory  distinctions  to  the  former,  which  might  induce  them 
to  abate  their  severities  against  our  commerce.  I  have  al 
ways  supposed  this  coincided  with  your  sentiments  ;  yet 
the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  by  his  cabals  with  members 
of  the  legislature,  and  by  high  toned  declamation  on  other 
occasions,  has  forced  down  his  own  system,  which  was 
exactly  the  reverse.  He  undertook,  of  his  own  authority, 
the  conferences  with  the  ministers  of  these  two  nations, 


322  THE   CHARACTER  OF 

and  was  on  every  consultation  provided  with  some  report 
of  a  conversation  with  the  one  or  the  other  of  them  adapt 
ed  to  his  views. 

"  These  views  thus  made  to  prevail,  their  execution  fell 
of  course  to  me ;  and  I  can  safely  appeal  to  you,  who  have 
seen  all  my  letters  and  proceedings,  whether  I  have  not 
carried  them  into  execution  as  sincerely  as  if  they  had  been 
my  own,  though  I  ever  considered  them  as  inconsistent 
with  the  honor  and  interest  of  our  country.  That  they 
have  been  inconsistent  with  our  interest  is  but  too  fatally 
proved  by  the  stab  to  our  navigation  given  by  the  French. 
So  that  if  the  question  be,  by  whose  fault  is  it  that  colonel 
Hamilton  and  myself  have  not  drawn  together?  the  an 
swer  will  depend  on  that  to  two  other  questions.  Whose 
principles  of  administration  best  justify,  by  their  purity, 
conscientious  adherence  ?  And  which  of  us  has,  notwith 
standing,  stepped  farthest  into  the  control  of  the  depart 
ment  of  the  other  ? 

"  To  this  justification  of  opinions,  expressed  in  the  way 
of  conversation,  against  the  views  of  colonel  Hamilton,  I 
beg  leave  to  add  some  notice  of  his  late  charges  against 
me  in  Fenno's  Gazette ;  for  neither  the  style,  matter,  nor 
venom  of  the  pieces  alluded  to  can  leave  a  doubt  of  their 
author.  Spelling  my  name  and  character  at  full  length  to 
the  public,  while  he  conceals  his  own  under  the  signature 
of  "  AN  AMERICAN,"  he  charges  me,  first,  with  having  writ 
ten  letters  from  Europe  to  my  friends  to  oppose  the  present 
constitution  while  depending;  secondly,  with  a  desire  of 
not  paying  the  public  debt ;  thirdly,  with  setting  up  a  paper 
to  decry  and  slander  the  government. 

"  The  first  charge  is  most  false.  No  man  in  the  United 
States,  I  suppose,  approved  of  every  tittle  in  the  constitu 
tion  ;  no  one,  I  believe,  approved  more  of  it  than  I  did  ;  and 
more  of  it  was  certainly  disapproved  by  my  accuser  than 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  323 

by  me,  and  of  its  parts  most  vitally  republican.  Of  this 
the  few  letters  I  wrote  on  the  subject  (not  half  a  dozen,  I 
believe,)  will  be  a  proof;  and  for  my  own  satisfaction  and 
justification,  I  must  tax  you  with  the  reading  of  them  when 
I  return  to  where  they  are.  You  will  there  see  that  my 
objection  to  the  constitution  was,  that  it  wanted  a  bill  of 
rights,  securing  freedom  of  religion,  freedom  of  the  press, 
freedom  from  standing  armies,  trial  by  jury,  and  a  constant 
habeas  corpus  act.  Colonel  Hamilton's  was,  that  it  want 
ed  a  king  and  house  of  lords.  The  sense  of  America 
has  approved  my  objection,  and  added  the  bill  of  rights,  not 
the  king  and  lords.  I  also  thought  a  longer  term  of  ser 
vice,  insusceptible  of  renewal,  would  have  made  a  presi 
dent  more  independent.  My  country  has  thought  other 
wise,  and  I  have  acquiesced  implicitly.  He  wished  the 
general  government  should  have  power  to  make  laws  bind 
ing  the  states  in  all  cases  whatsoever.  Our  country  has 
thought  otherwise.  Has  he  acquiesced  ?  Notwithstand 
ing  my  wish  for  a  bill  of  rights,  my  letters  strongly  urged 
the  adoption  of  the  constitution,  by  nine  states  at  least,  to 
secure  the  good  it  contained.  I  at  first  thought  that  the 
best  method  of  securing  the  bill  of  rights  wouldbe,  for  four 
states  to  hold  off  till  such  a  bill  should  be  agreed  to.  But 
the  moment  I  saw  Mr.  Hancock's  proposition  to  pass  the 
constitution  as  it  stood,  and  give  perpetual  instructions  to 
the  representatives  of  every  state  to  insist  on  a  bill  of 
rights,  I  acknowledged  the  superiority  of  his  plan,  and  ad 
vocated  universal  adoption. 

"  The  second  charge  is  equally  untrue.  My  whole  cor 
respondence  while  in  France,  and  every  word,  letter  and 
act  on  the  subject  since  my  return,  prove  that  no  man  is 
more  ardently  intent  to  see  the  public  debt  soon  and  sa- 
c.redly  paid  off  than  I  am.  This  exactly  marks  the  differ 
ence  between  colonel  Hamilton's  views  and  mine,  that  I 


324  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

would  wish  the  debt  paid  to-morrow  :  he  wishes  it  never 
to  be  paid,  but  always  to  be  a  thing  wherewith  to  corrupt 
and  manage  the  legislature. 

"  Thirdly,  I  have  never  inquired  what  number  of  sons, 
relations,  and  friends  of  senators,  representatives,  printers, 
or  other  useful  partisans  colonel  Hamilton  has  provided 
for  among  the  hundred  clerks  of  his  department,  the  thou 
sand  excisemen,  custom-house  officers,  loan  officers,  &c. 
&c.,  appointed  by  him,  or  at  his  nod,  and  spread  over  the 
Union  :  nor  could  ever  have  imagined,  that  the  man,  who 
has  the  shuffling  of  millions  backwards  and  forwards  from 
paper  into  money  and  money  into  paper,  from  Europe  to 
America  and  America  to  Europe,  the  dealing  out  of  treas 
ury  secrets  among  his  friends  in  what  lime  and  measure 
he  pleases,  and  who  never  slips  an  occasion  of  making 
friends  with  his  means  ;  that  such  a  one,  I  say,  would 
have  brought  forward  a  charge  against  me  for  having  ap 
pointed  the  poet  Freneau  translating  clerk  to  my  office 
with  a  salary  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  year. 

"  The  fact  stands  thus.  While  the  government  was  at 
New-York,  I  was  applied  to  on  behalf  of  Freneau  to  know 
if  there  was  any  place  within  my  department  to  which  he 
could  be  appointed.  I  answered,  there  were  but  four 
clerkships,  all  of  which  I  found  full,  and  continued  with 
out  any  change.  When  we  removed  to  Philadelphia,  Mr. 
Pintard,  the  translating  clerk,  did  not  choose  to  remove 
with  us.  His  office  then  became  vacant.  I  was  again  ap 
plied  to  there  for  Freneau,  and  had.  no  hesitation  t  o  pro 
mise  the  clerkship  for  him.  I  cannot  recollect  whether  it 
was  at  the  same  time,  or  afterwards,  that  I  was  told  he  had 
a  thought  of  setting  up  a  newspaper  there ;  but  whether 
then,  or  afterwards,  I  considered  it  as  a  circumstance  of 
some  value,  as  it  might  enable  me  to  do  what  I  had  long 
wished  to  have  done,  that  is,  to  have  the  material  parts  of 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  325 

the  Leyden  Gazette  brought  under  your  eye  and  that  of  the 
public,  in  order  to  possess  yourself  and  them  of  a  juster 
view  of  the  affairs  of  Europe  than  could  be  obtained  from 
any  other  public  source.  This  I  had  ineffectually  attempt 
ed  through  the  press  of  Mr.  Fenno  while  in  New-York, 
selecting  and  translating  passages  myself  at  first,  then  hav 
ing  it  done  by  Mr.  Pintard,  the  translating  clerk.  But 
they  found  their  way  too  slowly  into  Mr.  Fenno's  papers, 
Mr.  Backe  essayed  it  for  me  in  Philadelphia;  but  his, 
being  a  daily  paper,  did  not  circulate  sufficiently  in  other 
states.  He  even  tried,  at  my  request,  the  plan  of  a  weekly 
paper  of  recapitulation  from  his  daily  paper,  in  hopes  thai 
that  might  go  into  the  other  states ;  but  in  this,  too,  we 
failed. 

"  Freneau,  as  translating  clerk  and  the  printer  of  a  pe 
riodical  paper  likely  to  circulate  through  the  states,  (uni 
ting  in  one  person  the  parts  of  Pintard  and  Fenno,)  re 
vived  my  hopes  that  the  thing  could  at  length  be  effected. 
On  the  establishment  of  his  paper,  therefore,  I  furnished 
him  with  the  Leyden  Gazettes,  with  an  expression  of  my 
wish  that  he  would  always  translate  and  publish  the  ma 
terial  intelligence  they  contained ;  and  have  continued  to 
furnish  them  from  time  to  time  as  regularly  as  I  received 
them.  But  as  to  any  other  direction  or  indication  of  my 
wish  how  his  press  should  be  conducted,  what  sort  of  intelli 
gence  he  should  give,  what  essays  encourage,  I  can  pro 
test,  in  the  presence  of  Heaven,  that  I  never  did,  by  mysel/ 
or  any  other,  directly  or  indirectly,  write,  dictate  or  procure 
any  one  sentence  or  sentiment  to  be  inserted  in  his  or  any 
other  gazette  to  which  my  name  was  not  affixed,  or  that 
of  my  office.  I  surely  need  riot  except  here  a  thing  so 
foreign  to  the  present  subject  as  a  little  paragraph  :about 
our  Algerine  captives  which  I  put  once  into  Fenno's  pa 
per. 

28 


326  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

"  Freneau's  propositions  to  publish  a  paper  having  been 
about  the  time  the  writings  of  PUBLICOLA  and  the  DIS 
COURSES  ON  DA  VILA  had  a  good  deal  excited  the  public  at 
tention,  I  took  it  for  granted,  from  Freneau's  character, 
which  had  been  marked  as  that  of  a  good  whig,  that  he 
would  give  free  place  to  pieces  written  against  the  aristo- 
eratical  and  monarchical  principles  these  papers  had  in 
culcated.  This  having  been  in  my  mind,  it  is  likely  enough 
I  may  have  expressed  it  in  conversation  with  others; 
though  I  do  not  recollect  thai  I  did.  To  Freneau  I  think 
I  could  not,  because  I  had  still  seen  him  but  once,  and 
that  was  at  a  public  table,  at  breakfast,  at  Mrs.  Ellsworth's, 
as  I  passed  through  New  York  the  last  year;  and  I  can 
safely  declare  that  my  expectations  looked  only  to  the 
chastisement  of  the  aristocratical  and  monarchical  writers, 
and  not  to  any  criticisms  on  the  proceedings  of  the  gov 
ernment. 

"  Colonel  Hamilton  can  see  no  motive  for  any  appoint 
ment  but  that  of  making  a  convenient  parlizan.  But  you, 
sir,  who  have  received  from  me  the  recommendations  of  a 
Rittenhouse,  Barlow,  Paine,  will  believe  that  talents  and 
science  are  sufficient  motives  with  me  in  appointments  to 
which  they  are  fitted ;  and  that  Freneau,  as  a  man  of  gen 
ius,  might  find  a  preference  in  my  eye  to  be  a  translating 
clerk,  and  make  good  title,  moreover,  to  the  little  aids  I 
could  give  him  as  the  editor  of  a  gazette,  by  procuring 
subscriptions  to  his  paper  as  I  did,  some  before  it  appeared, 
and  as  I  have  with  pleasure  done  for  the  labors  of  other 
men  of  genius.  I  hold  it  to  be  one  of  the  distinguishing 
excellences  of  an  elective  over  hereditary  successions,  that 
the  talents  which  nature  has  provided  in  sufficient  propor 
tion,  should  be  selected  by  the  society  for  the  government 
of  their  affairs  rather  than  that  this  should  be  transmitted 
through  the  loins  of  knaves  and  fools,  passing  from  the 
Debauchees  of  the  table  to  those  of  the  bed. 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  327 

"  Colonel  Hamilton,  alias  "  Plain  Facts,"  says,  that  Fre- 
neau's  salary  began  before  he  resided  in  Philadelphia.  I 
do  not  know  what  quibble  he  may  have  in  reserve  on  the 
word  "  residence."  He  may  mean  to  include  under  that 
idea  the  removal  of  his  family ;  for  I  believe  he  removed, 
himself,  before  his  family  did,  to  Philadelphia.  But  no 
act  of  mine  gave  commencement  to  his  salary  before  he  so 
far  took  up  his  abode  in  Philadelphia,  as  to  be  sufficiently 
in  readiness  for  the  duties  of  his  office.  As  to  the  merits 
or  demerits  of  his  paper,  they  certainly  concern  me  not. 
He  and  Fenno  are  rivals  for  the  public  favor;  the  one 
courts  them  by  flattery,  the  other  by  censure ;  and  I  be 
lieve  it  will  be  admitted  that  the  one  has  been  as  servile 
as  the  other  severe.  But  is  not  the  dignity,  and  even 
decency  of  government  committed,  when  one  of  its  prin 
cipal  ministers  enlists  himself  as  an  anonymous  writer  or 
paragraphist  for  either  the  one  or  the  other  of  them  ?  No 
government  ought  to  be  without  censors ;  and  where  the 
press  is  free,  no  one  ever  will.  If  virtuous,  it  need  not  fear 
the  fair  operation  of  attack  and  defence.  Nature  has  giv 
en  to  man  no  other  means  of  sifting  out  the  truth,  either  in 
religion,  law  or  politics.  I  think  it  as  honorable  to  the 
government  neither  to  know  nor  notice  its  sycophants  or 
censors,  as  it  would  be  undignified  and  criminal  to  pamper 
the  former  and  persecute  the  latter. 

"  When  I  came  into  this  office,  it  was  with  a  resolution 
to  retire  from  it  as  soon  as  I  could  with  decency.  It  pret 
ty  early  appeared  to  me,  that  the  proper  moment  would  be 
the  first  of  those  epochs  at  which  the  constitution  seems  to 
have  contemplated  a  periodical  change  or  removal  of  the 
public  servants.  In  this  I  was  confirmed  by  your  resolu 
tion  respecting  the  same  period,  from  which,  however,  I 
am  happy  in  hoping  you  have  departed.  1  look  to  that  pe 
riod  with  the  longing  of  a  wave-worn  mariner,  who  has  at 


328  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

length  the  land  in  view,  and  shall  count  the  days  and  hours 
which  still  lie  between  me  and  it.  In  the  mean  while  my 
main  object  will  be  to  wind  up  the  business  of  my  office, 
avoiding1  as  muck  as  possible  all  new  enterprises.  With 
the  affairs  of  the  legislature,  as  I  never  did  intermeddle, 
so  I  certainly  shall  not  now  begin.  I  am  more  desirous  to 
predispose  everything  for  the  repose  to  which  I  am  with 
drawing,  than  expose  it  to  be  disturbed  by  newspaper  con 
tests. 

"  If  these  however  cannot  be  avoided  altogether,  yet  a  re 
gard  for  your  quiet  will  be  a  sufficient  motive  for  deferring 
it  till  I  become  merely  a  private  citizen,  when  the  propri 
ety  or  impropriety  of  what  I  may  say  or  do  may  fall  on 
myself  alone.  I  may  then,  too,  avoid  the  charge  of  mis 
applying  that  time  which,  now  belonging  to  those  who 
employ  me,  should  be  wholly  devoted  to  their  service.  If 
my  own  justification  or  the  interests  of  the  republic  shall 
require  it,  I  reserve  to  myself  the  right  of  then  appealing 
to  my  country,  subscribing  my  name  to  whatever  I  write, 
and  using  with  freedom  and  truth  the  facts  and  names 
necessary  to  place  the  cause  in  its  just  form  before  that  tri 
bunal.  To  a  thorough  disregard  of  the  honors  and  emol 
uments  of  office,  I  join  as  great  a  value  for  the  esteem  of 
my  countrymen ;  and  conscious  of  having  merited  it  by 
an  integrity  which  connot  be  reproached,  and  by  an  enthu 
siastic  devotion  to  their  rights  and  liberty,  I  will  not  suffer 
my  retirement  to  be  clouded  by  the  slanders  of  a  man 
whose  history,  from  the  moment  history  can  stoop  to  no 
tice  him,  is  a  tissue  of  machinations  against  the  liberty  of 
the  country  which  has  not  only  received  and  given  him 
bread,  but  heaped  its  honors  on  his  head." 

There  are  some  things  in  this  letter  that  are  worthy  of 
notice. 

Mr.  Jsfferson  complains  much  in  it  of  general  Hamil- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  329 

ton's  interference  in  the  business  of  the  department  of  state ; 
while  on  his  part,  he  avers,  that  he  never  meddled  with 
the  concerns  of  the  treasury,  any  further  than  to  utter  ex 
pressions  of  dissent  from  the  measures  proposed  by  the 
head  of  that  department.  On  this  subject  he  uses  the 
following  language  : — "  To  say  nothing  of  other  interfer 
ences  equally  known,  in  the  case  of  the  two  nations  with 
which  we  have  the  most  intimate  connections,  France  and 
England,  my  system  was  to  give  some  satisfactory  distinc 
tions  to  the  former,  which  might  induce  them  to  abate 
their  severities  against  our  commerce.  I  have  always  sup 
posed  this  coincided  with  your  sentiments ;  yet  the  secre 
tary  of  the  treasury,  by  his  cabals  with  members  of  the 
legislature  and  by  high  toned  declamation  on  other  occa 
sions,  has  forced  down  his  own  system,  which  was  exactly 
the  reverse." 

On  what  grounds  Mr.  Jefferson  formed  the  opinion  that 
general  Washington  entertained  the  same  sentiments  with 
himself  respecting  the  relations  that  ought  to  subsist  be 
tween  this  country  and  France,  it  is  not  easy  to  ascertain. 
General  Washington's  wishes,  as  far  as  they  can  be  gath 
ered  from  his  system  of  policy,  and  the  measures  whirh 
he  adopted  whilst  at  the  head  of  the  government,  were  for 
the  observance  of  a  strict  neutrality  between  those  two 
great  rival  powers,  to  do  exact  justice,  and  maintain  a  strict 
friendship  with  both.  That  he  ever  entertained,  for  a  mo 
ment,  a  disposition  to  purchase  the  good  will  of  France,  by 
giving  "  satisfactory  distinctions  "  to  that  nation,  over  Great 
Britain,  and  especially  for  the  purpose  of  inducing  the 
French  to  "  abate  their  severity  against  our  commerce,* 
cannot,  in  justice  to  his  character,  and  from  a  regard  to  the 
honor  of  the  United  States,  be  admitted  for  a  moment. 
That  great  man  could  never  have  consented  to  degrade 
the  nation  over  which  he  presided  by  purchasing  immu- 
28* 


330  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

nity  from  foreign  injustice,  or  foreign  resentment,  by  pay 
ing  tribute  to  any  power,  and  especially,  in  such  a  servile 
and  dastardly  manner  as  is  here  suggested.  He  would 
have  run  the  risk  of  any  "  stab  "  which  they  might  have 
attempted  to  give  "  to  our  navigation,"  rather  than  debase 
his  country  before  any  power  on  earth. 

Mr.  Jefferson  goes  much  at  length,  in  this  letter,  into 
the  reasons  why  he  appointed  Philip  Freneau  translating 
clerk  in  the  department  of  state.  His  objects,  according 
to  his  own  explanation  of  them,  were  principally  two — to 
reward  his  poetical  genius,  and  to  have  a  man  at  hand 
who  could  translate  and  publish  articles,  from  time  to  time, 
from  the  Leyden  Gazette.  With  regard  to  the  first,  it  is 
not  easy  to  imagine  what  precise  value  poetical  talents 
possessed  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  estimation.  Freneau's  talents 
in  that  department  of  literature  were  far  from  being  extra 
ordinary  ;  but  if  they  were  suited  to  Mr.  Jefferson's  taste, 
and  as  poets  deal  largely  in  fiction  it  is  probable  they  were, 
they  may  have  been  worth,  in  his  view,  two  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  a  year.  Of  how  much  importance  the  publi 
cations  in  a  Dutch  newspaper  were  to  general  Washington, 
for  whose  particular  benefit  Mr.  Jefferson  seems  to  have 
been  desirous  of  introducing  the  contents  of  that  gazette 
into  this  country,  or  to  the  government,  cannot  now  be  as 
certained.  It  is  probable  they  were  of  a  revolutionary 
character,  and  friendly  to  French  principles,  or  he  would 
not  have  been  so  anxious  to  bring  them  to  the  knowledge 
of  his  countrymen. 

But  it  is  difficult  to  avoid  the  suspicion  notwithstand 
ing  the,  pains  taken  in  this  letter  to  shut  it  out  of  view, 
that  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  patronizing  Freneau,  had  more  im 
mediate  reference  to  the  importance  of  the  newspaper  he 
was  establishing  at  the  seat  of  government  than  he  had  to 
his  poetical  talents,  or  the  translation  and  publication  of 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  331 

the  matter  in  the  Leyden  Fazette.  The  character  of  his 
paper  has  already  been  alluded  to.  It  was  a  vehicle  of 
the  most  virulent  and  scurrilous  abuse  of  the  government 
of  this  country,  and  even  of  general  Washington  himself, 
and  at  the  same  time  was  devoted  to  the  furtherance  of 
Mr.  Jefferson's  ambitious  views  and  interests.  And  it  has 
been  seen  in  what  light  Mr.  Jefferson  considered  it,  when 
upon  general  Washington's  mentioning  it  in  conversation 
with  him,  as  of  an  abusive  and  malignant  character.  "  He 
adverted,"  says  Mr.  Jefferson,  "  to  a  piece  in  Freneau's  pa 
per  of  yesterday ;  he  said  he  despised  all  their  attacks  up- 
n  him  personally,  but  that  there  had  never  been  an  act  of 
the  government,  not  meaning  in  the  executive  line  only, 
but  in  any  line,  which  that  paper  had  not  abused."  And 
Mr.  Jefferson  then  adds — "  He  was  evidently  sore  and 
warm,  and  I  took  his  intention  to  be,  that  I  should  inter 
pose  in  some  way  with  Freneau,  perhaps  withdraw  his  ap 
pointment  of  translating  clerk  to  my  office.  But  I  will  not 
do  it.  His  paper  has  saved  our  constitution^  which  was 
galloping  fast  into  monarchy,  and  has  been  checked  by  no 
one  means  so  powerfully  as  by  that  paper."  To  say  noth 
ing  of  the  gross  indelicacy  of  this  passage  towards  gener 
al  Washington,  it  will  be  recollected,  that  it  related  to  a 
person  for  whom  Mr.  Jefferson  professed  to  entertain  the 
highest  esteem  and  respect,  and  who  had  it  in  his  power, 
had  he  thought  i  expedient  to  exercise  it,  to  remove  him 
from  the  office  which  he  held,  and  thus  rid  himself  of  the 
annoyance  derived  from  both  the  principal  and  the  agent. 
In  reply  to  the  charge  of  having  been  opposed  to  the 
constitution,  which  had  been  made  against  him  in  a  news 
paper,  and  which  he  ascribes  to  general  Hamilton,  he  says, 
"  My  objection  to  the  constitution  was,  that  it  wanted  a 
bill  of  rights,  securing  freedom  of  religion,  freedom  of  the 
press,  freedom  from  standing  armies,  trial  by  jury,  and  a 


332  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

constant  habeas  corpus  act.     Colonel  Hamilton's  was,  that 
it  wanted  a  king  and  house  of  lords." 

Mr.  Jefferson,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  extracts  from  his 
printed  works  in  this  volume,  in  stating  his  objections  to  the 
constitution,  frequently  mentioned  the  want  of  the  per 
petual  security  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  as  one.  And 
yet  he  was  the  first  president  of  the  United  States,  under 
whom  a  proposition  was  made  to  suspend  its  operation ; 
and  a  bill,  growing  out  of  a  confidential  message  to  the 
senate  of  the  United  States,  actually  passed  that  body,  sus 
pending  the  habeas  corpus,  on  the  23d  of  January,  1807. 
This  measure  which  was  professedly  intended  to  aid  the 
government  in  suppressing  what  was  called  the  conspiracy 
of  Aaron  Burr,  was  adopted  in  the  senate  the  day  after 
the  delivery  of  a  message  to  both  houses  on  that  subject, 
from  the  general  tenor  of  which  it  was  apparent,  that 
whatever  danger  had  threatened  the  union  from  that  com 
bination,  it  had  passed  away,  and  some  of  the  persons  con 
cerned  in  it  as  principals  had  been  arrested  at  New  Orleans, 
and  sent  as  prisoners  to  the  seat  of  government,  in  order 
to  be  tried  for  the  crimes  alleged  against  them.  This  ex 
travagant  measure  therefore  had  become  altogether  unne 
cessary. 

But  Mr.  Jefferson  states  explicitly  in  this  letter  to  gener 
al  Washington,  that  general  Hamilton's  objection  to  the 
constitution  was,  "  that  it  wanted  a  king  and  house  of 
lords"  That  this  charge  was  not  true,  is  absolutely  cer 
tain,  as  general  Hamilton  never  attempted  to  accomplish 
such  an  object  Nor  does  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  the  multitude 
of  instances,  and  the  great  variety  of  forms,  in  which  he 
accuses  general  Hamilton  of  monarchical  principles  and 
propensities,  produce  a  particle  of  evidence  in  support  of 
the  charges.  If  he  relied  on  the  general  project  of  a  con 
stitution  which  general  Hamilton  presented  to  the  conven- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  333 

tion  for  their  consideration,  and  which  is  published  in  this 
work,  it  does  not  in  any  measure  prove  the  allegation.  In 
deed,  there  is  not  now,  and  there  never  was,  any  credible 
evidence  before  the  public,  that  general  Hamilton  ever 
made  any  specific  objection  to  the  constitution,  or  ever  en 
tertained  such  a  wish.  On  the  contrary,  he  supported  it  in 
the  general  convention  by  which  it  was  formed  ;  he  joined 
in  recommending  it,  under  his  own  signature,  to  the  peo 
ple  of  the  United  States ;  he  exerted  his  great  talents 
through  the  press  to  prepare  the  public  mind  for  its  favora 
ble  reception;  and  it  was  undoubtedly,  in  a  great  degree, 
owing  to  his  influence  and  exertions,  that  it  was  adopted 
by  the  convention  of  the  state  of  New  'York.  To  set  off 
against  this  array  of  efforts  in  the  formation  and  establish 
ment  of  the  constitution,  Mr.  Jefferson  cannot  boast  of  a 
single  exertion  of  talent  or  influence,  either  in  its  forma 
tion  or  its  adoption,  in  its  favor.  He  contented  himself 
with  stating  to  his  friends  and  correspondents,  objections 
of  divers  kinds,  and  yielded  to  some  things  in  it  a  cold 
and  apparently  reluctant  assent.  And  yet,  he  has  the  har 
dihood  to  bring  this  weighty  accusation  against  general 
Hamilton  before  general  Washington,  who  was  president 
of  the  convention  which  framed  the  constitution,  and  who, 
of  course,  must  have  known  every  act,  proposition  and 
project  of  general  Hamilton's  before  that  body  ;  and  who 
had,  besides,  witnessed  his  conduct  as  a  member  of  his  cab 
inet  after  the  government  was  organized  and  had  com 
menced  its  operations. 

Mr.  Jefferson  endeavors,  in  this  letter,  to  satisfy  general 
Washington,  that  he  never  attempted,  whilst  he  was  sec 
retary  of  state,  to  intrigue  with  the  members  of  congress, 
to  defeat  the  plans  of  the  secretary  of  treasury ;  and  he 
says,  he  never  had  a  wish  to  influence  them  in  their  pub- 


334  THE   CHARACTER  OF 

lie  duties,  at  the  same  time,  he  acknowledges,  that  in  pri 
vate  conversations  he  wholly  disapproved  of  the  system  of 
that  officer.  The  case  does  not  seem  to  admit  of  much 
further  effort  at  intrigue  than  the  expression  of  opinions 
in  private  conversation.  And  as  his  opinions  usually  had 
the  force  of  law  with  his  adherents,  he  admits  all  that 
was  necessary  to  render  him  liable  to  the  general  charge 
of  having  endeavored  to  influence  members  in  their  legis 
lative  conduct.  And  when  his  famous  commercial  report, 
made  just  as  he  was  retiring  from  office,  is  remembered, 
and  the  great  pains  he  took  afterwards  to  excite  opposition 
to  the  British  treaty,  and  the  alien  and  sedition  laws — the 
latter  while  he  was  vice-president — it  will  require  no  great 
stretch  of  credulity  to  believe,  that  he  was  not  entirely  qui 
escent  respecting  the  course  of  the  public  affairs  alluded  to, 
at  a  time  when  he  was  on  the  spot,  and  certainly  took  a 
deep  interest  in  their  general  character.  His  uniform  and 
vindictive  opposition  to  general  Hamilton,  will  always 
render  him  liable,  at  least,  to  the  suspicion. 

General  Hamilton's  answer  to  general  Washington's  let 
ter  of  August  26,  1792,  is  as  follows  : — "  I  have  the  pleas 
ure  of  your  private  letter  of  the  26th  of  August.  The 
feelings  and  views  which  are  manifested  in  that  letter,  are 
such  as  I  expected  would  exist.  And  I  most  sincerely  re 
gret  the  causes  of  the  uneasy  sensations  you  experience. 
It  is  my  most  anxious  wish,  as  far  as  may  depend  upon 
me,  to  smooth  the  path  of  your  administration,  and  to  ren 
der  it  prosperous  and  happy.  And  if  any  prospect  shall 
open  of  healing  or  terminating  the  differences  which  exist, 
I  shall  most  cheerfully  embrace  it ;  though  I  consider  my 
self  as  the  deeply  injured  party.  The  recommendation  of 
such  a  spirit  is  worthy  of  the  moderation  and  wisdom 
which  dictated  it.  And  if  your  endeavors  should  prove 
unsuccessful,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  in  my  opinion 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  335 

the  period  is  not  remote,  when  the  public  good  will  require 
SUBSTITUTES  for  the  differing  members  of  your  administra 
tion.  The  continuance  of  a  division  there  must  destroy 
the  energy  of  government,  which  will  be  little  enough 
with  the  strictest  union.  On  my  part  there  will  be  a  most 
cheerful  acquiescence  in  such  a  result. 

"  I  trust,  sir,  that  the  greatest  frankness  has  always 
marked,  and  will  always  mark,  every  step  of  my  conduct 
towards  you.  In  this  disposition  I  cannot  conceal  from 
you,  that  I  have  had  some  instrumentality  of  late  in  the  re 
taliations,  which  have  fallen  upon  certain  public  characters, 
and  that  I  find  myself  placed  in  a  situation  not  to  be  able 
to  recede  for  the  present. 

"  I  considered  myself  as  compelled  to  this  conduct  by 
reasons  public  as  well  as  personal,  of  the  most  cogent  na 
ture.  I  know  that  I  have  been  an  object  of  uniform  op 
position  from  Mr.  Jefferson,  from  the  moment  of  his  com 
ing  to  the  city  of  New  York  to  enter  upon  his  present  of 
fice.  1  know  from  the  most  authentic  sources,  that  I  have 
been  the  frequent  subject  of  the  most  unkind  whispers  and 
insinuations  from  the  same"  quarter.  I  have  long  seen 
formed  a  party  in  the  legislature  under  his  auspices,  bent 
upon  my  subversion.  I  cannot  doubt  from  the  evidence  I 
possess,  that  the  National  Gazette  was  instituted  by  him 
for  political  purposes,  and  that  one  leading  object  of  it  has 
been  to  render  me,  and  all  the  measures  connected  with 
my  department,  as  odious  as  possible. 

"  Nevertheless,  I  can  truly  say  thai,  except  explanations 
to  confidential  friends,  I  never,  directly  or  indirectly,  retal 
iated  or  countenanced  retaliation  till  very  lately.  I  can 
even  assure  you,  I  was  instrumental  in  perverting  a  very 
severe  and  systematic  attack  upon  Mr.  Jefferson  by  an  as 
sociation  of  two  or  three  individuals,  in  consequence  of 
the  persecution  which  he  brought  upon  the  v.ice-president, 


336  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

by  his  indirect  and  light  letter  to  the  printer  transmitting 
Paine's  pamphlet. 

"  As  long  as  I  saw  no  danger  to  the  government  from 
the  machinations  which  were  going  on,  I  resolved  to  be  a 
silent  sufferer  of  the  injuries  which  were  done  me.  I  de 
termined  to  avoid  giving  occasion  to  anything  which  could 
manifest  to  the  world  dissensions  among  the  principal  char 
acters  of  the  government;  a  thing  which  can  never  hap 
pen  without  weakening  its  hands,  and  in  some  degree 
throwing  a  stigma  upon  it. 

"  But  when  I  no  longer  doubted,  that  there  was  a  formed 
party  deliberately  bent  upon  the  subversion  of  measures, 
which  in  its  consequences  would  subvert  the  government ; 
when  I  saw  that  the  undoing  of  the  funding  system  in  par 
ticular  (which,  whatever  may  be  the  original  merits  of 
that  system,  would  prostrate  the  credit  and  honor  of  the 
nation,  and  bring  the  government  into  contempt  with  that 
description  of  men  who  are  in  every  society  the  only  firm 
supporters  of  the  government.)  was  an  avowed  object  of 
the  party,  and  that  all  possible  pains  were  taking  to  pro 
duce  that  effect  by  rendering  it  odious  to  the  body  of  the 
people,  I  considered  it  as  a  duty  to  endeavor  to  resist  the 
torrent,  and,  as  an  effectual  means  to  this  end,  to  draw 
aside  the  veil  from  the  principal  actors.  To  this  strong 
impulse,  to  this  decided  conviction,  I  have  yielded.  And 
I  think  events  will  prove  that  I  have  judged  rightly. 

"  Nevertheless,  I  pledge  my  honor  to  you,  sir,  that  if  you 
shall  hereafter  form  a  plan  to  reunite  the  members  of  your 
administration  upon  some  steady  principle  of  co-operation, 
I  will  faithfully  concur  in  executing  it  during  my  contin 
uance  in  office — and  I  will  not,  directly  or  indirectly,  say 
or  do  a  thing  that  shall  endanger  a  feud." 

Notwithstanding  the  very  artful  and  labored  attempt, 
in  Mr,  Jefferson's  letter,  to  lower  general  Hamilton's  prin- 


THOMAS     JEFFERSON.  337 

ciples  and  character  in  general  Washington's  estimation, 
it  has  been  seen  by  the  letter  from  the  latter  to  the  former 
upon  his  leaving  the  treasury  department,  it  was  entirely 
without  effect.  That  event  occurred  nearly  two  years  af 
ter  the  date  of  this  correspondence,  and  from  the  language 
of  the  letter  alluded  to,  which  will  be  found  in  this  work, 
general  Hamilton  carried  with  him  into  retirement  the  full 
est  confidence,  as  well  as  the  most  sincere  esteem  and  res 
pect,  of  general  Washington. 

Nor  is  it  known  that  Mr.  Jefferson  ever  made  his  threat 
ened  appeal  to  the  country,  under  his  own  signature,  in  or 
der  to  place  his  cause  before  that  tribunal.  Whether  his 
want  of  success  in  convincing  general  Washington  of  gen 
eral  Hamilton's  treasonable  designs  against  the  country 
discouraged  him  from  an  effort  with  the  people,  or  he  be 
came  convinced  that  the  safer,  and  it  was  certainly  the 
more  characteristic  mode,  that  of  retailing  his  slanders 
through  the  medium  of  a  posthumous  publication,  would 
be  the  more  discreet  course  to  pursue  for  the  attainment  of 
his  object,  will  be  left  to  the  reader's  judgement  to  decide. 


29 


338  THE    CHARACTER    OF 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

Mr.  Jefferson  made  use  of  unworthy  means  to  gain  popularity — 
Alleges  that  he  had  more  confidence  in  the  people  than  general 
"Washington  had ;  which  was  the  only  point  on  which  they  dif 
fered—He  assumed  the  title  of  "  Friend  of  the  People  "—Dress 
ed  plainly — affected  unassuming  manners — professed  never  to 
have  written  a  word  for  newspapers — He  urged  others  to  write 
— In  one  instance  he  wrote  himself,  but  proposed  to  procure 
somebody  to  father  it — Tells  Madison  he  must  take  up  his  pen 
in  reply  to  Hamilton — Letter  to  E.  Pendleton,  Jan.  1799,  urges 
him  to  write  on  the  negociation,  with  France — Letter  to  Madison, 
and  calls  upon  him  to  write— nThe  federalists  viewed  Jefferson 
as  an  unbeliever  in  Christianity — Letter  to  Dr.  Priestly,  March, 
1804 — Letter  to  Dr.  Rush,  April,  1803 — estimate  of  the  merits 
of  the  doctrines  of  Jesus,  compared  with  the  others — Letter  to  J. 
Adams,  August,  1813 — Letter  to  W.  Short,  April,  1820 — Jef 
ferson  a  materialist  j  Jesus  on  the  side  of  spiritualism — Paul  the 
first  corrupter  of  the  doctrines  of  Jesus — Letter  to  Short,  Aug. 
1820 — The  God  of  the  Jews  cruel,  vindictive,  capricious,  and 
unjust — Letter  to  J.  Adams,  April,  1823 — The  three  first  verses 
of  John,  1st  chapter,  mistranslated — Jefferson  not  a  Christian — 
doubtful  whether  he  believed  in  a  God — His  translation  of  John 
1st  absurd — Recapitulation  of  the  subjects  in  the  work — Conclu- 


Mr.  Jefferson,  like  all  other  demagogues,  made  use  of 
unworthy,  indirect,  and  servile  means  to  gain  popular  fa 
vor,  with  the  view  of  accomplishing  his  ambitious  projects. 
In  one  of  his  letters  quoted  in  this  work,  he  says,  the  only 
point  in  which  general  Washington  and  he  differed  in  opin 
ion,  was,  that  he  had  more  confidence  in  the  natural  integri 
ty  of  the  people,  and  in  the  safety  and  extent  to  which  they 
might  trust  themselves  with  a  control  over  their  govern- 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  339 

ment,  than  general  Washington  had.  Governing  his  con 
duct  through  life  by  this  confidence,  he  courted  popular  fa 
vor  by  the  most  fulsome  flattery,  and  the  most  obsequious 
adulation.  He  early  adopted  the  captivating  title  of  the 
"  Friend  of  the  People"  asserted  not  only  their  right  but 
their  capacity  for  what  he  called  self-government,  exhib 
ited  himself  in  public  in  the  plainest  garb,  and  with  the 
most  unassuming  manners  declaimed  with  much  earnest 
ness  against  pomp  and  show,  as  being  inconsistent  with 
republican  simplicity,  and  indicative  of  an  aristocratic  and 
even  of  a  monarchical  tendency ;  and  on  all  occasions,  pro 
fessed  the  greatest  anxiety  for  the  liberties,  privileges,  and 
security  of  the  people.  So  firmly  fixed  was  this  habit  of 
seeking  popularity  among  the  lower  classes  of  the  commu 
nity,  that  it  was  manifested  on  various  occasions,  even  at 
a  late  period  of  his  life,  when  it  might  naturally  have  been 
expected  his  thoughts  would  have  been  occupied  with  sub 
jects  of  more  importance.  In  a  letter  to  Elbridge  Gerry, 
dated  June  11,  1812,  when  speaking  of  the  political  con 
dition  of  Massachusetts,  he  says,  "  But  I  trust  that  such 
perverseness  will  not  be  that  of  the  honest  and  well  mean 
ing  mass  of  the  federalists  Q{  Massachusetts ;  and  that 
when  the  questions  of  separation  and  rebellion  shall  be 
nakedly  proposed  to  them,  the  Gores  and  the  Pickerings 
will  find  their  levees  crowded  with  silk-stocking  gentry 
but  no  yeomanry;  an  army  of  officers,  without  soldiers." 
And  in  a  letter  to  the  Marquis  de  La  Fayette,  dated  in  Jan 
uary,  1815,  he  says,  "  The  yeomanry  of  the  United  States 
are  not  the  canaille  of  Paris.  We  might  safely  give  them 
leave  to  go  through  the  United  States  recruiting  their 
ranks,  and  I  am  satisfied  they  could  not  raise  one  single 
regiment,  (gambling  merchants  and  silk-stocking  clerks  ex- 
cepted,)  who  would  support  them  in  any  effort  to  separate 
from  the  union."  Such  language  would  have  better  be- 


340  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

come  an  electioneering  office-hunter,  when  addressing  the 
low  rabble  of  a  city,  than  a  man  who  had  held  the  office 
of  president  of  the  United  States,  and  was  well  advanced 
beyond  seventy  years  of  age.  But  it  may  serve  to  point 
out  the  source  of  the  modern  policy  of  the  leading  parti- 
zans  and  demagogues  of  this  country,  in  arraying  the  poor 
in  a  warfare  against  the  rich,  and  exciting  the  low  and  vul 
gar  passions  of  the  worthless  members  of  the  community 
against  talents,  character  and  property. 

The  practice  of  making  use  of  low  artifice,  to  promote 
his  own  objects  of  popularity  and  ambition,  was  manifest 
ed  by  him  in  a  variety  of  ways,  and  on  different  occa 
sions,  as  is  sufficiently  apparent  from  many  passages  of 
his  correspondence. 

In  a  letter  from  Mr.  Jefferson  to  general  Washington, 
dated  June  19th,  1796,  he  says,  "  I  have  formerly  men 
tioned  to  you,  that  from  a  very  early  period  of  my  life,  I 
have  laid  it  down  as  a  rule  of  conduct  never  to  write  a 
word  for  the  public  papers.  From  this  I  have  never 
departed  in  a  single  instance ;  and  on  a  late  occasion,  when 
all  the  world  seemed  to  be  writing,  besides  a  rigid  adher 
ence  to  my  own  rule,  I  can  say  with  truth,  that  not  a  line 
for  the  press  was  ever  communicated  to  me  by  any  other, 
except  a  single  petition  referred  for  my  correction ;  which  I 
did  not  correct,  however,  though  the  contrary,  as  I  have 
heard,  was  said  in  a  public  place,  by  one  person  through 
error,  through  malice  by  another."  This  declaration  of 
his  never  having  written  for  the  newspapers  was  repeated 
so  often  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  letters,  that  the  conclusion  is 
forced  upon  the  mind,  that  he  viewed  this  species  of  absti 
nence  as  highly  meritorious.  There  is,  however,  a  legal 
maxim  purporting,  that  any  act  which  a  man  procures  to 
be  done  by  another  person,  is  considered  as  having  been 
done  by  himself;  and  of  course,  the  principal  is  held  to 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  341 

be  responsible  for  the  acts  of  the  agent.  In  a  letter  from 
Mr.  Jefferson  to  James  Madison,  dated  August  3d,  1797, 
he  urges  the  latter  to  visit  him,  as  he  is  anxious  to  consult 
with  him  on  several  matters,  one  of  which  he  says  is, 
"  the  subject  of  a  petition  now  enclosed  to  you,  to  be  pro 
posed  to  our  district,  on  the  late  presentment  of  our  repre 
sentative  by  the  grand  jury  ;  the  idea  which  it  brings  for 
ward  is  still  confined  to  my  own  breast.  It  has  never  been 
mentioned  to  any  mortal,  because  I  first  wished  your  opin 
ion  on  the  expediency  of  the  measure.  If  you  approve  it, 
I  shall  propose  to  *  *  *  or  some  other,  to  father  it,  and  to 
present  it  to  the  counties  at  their  general  muster.  This 
will  be  in  time  for  our  assembly.  The  presentment  going 
in  the  public  papers  just  at  the  moment  when  congress 
was  together,  produced  a  great  effsct  both  on  its  friends 
and  foes  in  that  body,  very  much  to  the  disheartening  and 
mortification  of  the  latter.  I  wish  this  petition,  if  ap 
proved,  to  arrive  there  under  the  same  circumstances,  to 
produce  the  counter  effect  so  wanting  for  their  gratification. 
I  could  have  wished  to  receive  it  from  you  again  at  our 
court  on  Monday,  because  *  *  *  and  *  *  *  will  be  there, 
and  might  also  be  consulted,  and  commence  measures  for 
putting  it  into  motion."  In  a  letter  to  the  same,  dated  Jan 
uary  3,  1798,  he  says,  "  Monroe's  book  is  considered  as 
masterly  by  all  those  who  are  not  opposed  in  principle, 
and  it  is  deemed  unanswerable.  An  answer,  however,  is 
commenced  in  Fenno's  paper  of  yesterday,  under  the  sig 
nature  of  Scipio.  The  real  author  not  yet  conjectured.  As 
I  take  these  papers  merely  to  preserve  them,  I  will  forward 
them  to  you,  as  you  can  easily  return  them  to  me  on  my 
arrival  at  home  ;  for  I  shall  not  see  you  on  my  way,  as 
mean  to  go  by  the  eastern  shore  and  Petersburg.  Per 
haps  the  paragraphs  in  some  of  these  abominable  papers 
may  draw  from  you  now  and  then  a  squib."  In  another 
29* 


342  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

letter  to  the  same,  dated  April  5,  1798,  he  says,  "  You 
will  see  in  Fenno,  two  numbers  of  a  paper  signed  Mar- 
cellus.  They  promise  much  mischief,  and  are  ascribed, 
without  any  difference  of  opinion,  to  Hamilton.  You 
must,  my  dear  sir,  take  up  your  pen  against  this  champion. 
You  know  the  ingenuity  of  his  talents ;  and  there  is  not 
a  person  but  yourself  who  can  foil  him.  For  heaven's 
sake,  then,  take  up  your  pen,  and  do  not  desert  the  public 
cause  altogether." 

In  a  letter  to  Edmund  Pendleton,  dated  January  29, 
1799,  after  mentioning  the  effects  produced  by  an  ad 
dress  from  that  gentleman  which  had  been  running 
through  the  republican  papers,  and  what  he  calls  the 
wicked  use  that  had  been  made  of  the  French  negotiation, 
and  saying  that  a  short  and  simple  recapitulation  of  the 
correspondence  was  necessary,  which  should  be  levelled  to 
every  capacity,  he  says,  "  Nobody  in  America  can  do  it  so 
well  as  yourself,  in  the  same  character  of  the  father  of 
your  country,  or  any  form  you  like  better,  and  so  concise, 
as,  omitting  nothing  material,  may  yet  be  printed  in  hand 
bills,  of  which  we  could  print  and  disperse  ten  or  twelve 
rthousand  copies  under  letter  covers,  through  all  the  United 
States,  by  the  members  of  congress  when  they  return 
home."  In  a  letter  to  James  Madison,  dated  February  5, 
1799,  he  says,  "  A  piece  published  in  Bache's  paper  on 
foreign  influence  has  had  the  greatest  currency  and  effect. 
To  an  extraordinary  first  impression,  they  have  been 
obliged  to  make  a  second,  and  of  an  extraordinary  number. 
It  is  such  things  as  these  the  public  want.  They  say  so 
<from  all  quarters,  and  that  they  wish  to  hear  reason  in 
stead  of  disgusting  blackguardism.  The  public  sentiment 
being  now  on  the  creep,  and  many  heavy  circumstances 
;  about  to  fall  into  the  republican  scale,  we  are  sensible  that 
>this  summer. is  the  season  for  systematic  energies  and  sac- 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 


343 


rifices.  The  engine  is  the  press.  Every  man  must  lay 
his  purse  and  his  pen  under  contribution.  As  to  the  for 
mer,  it  is  possible  I  may  be  obliged  to  assume  something 
for  you.  As  to  the  latter,  let  me  pray  and  beseech  you  to 
set  apart  a  certain  portion  of  every  post-day  to  write  what 
may  be  proper  for  the  public.  Send  it  to  me  while  here, 
and  when  I  go  away  I  will  let  you  know  to  whom  you 
may  send,  so  -that  your  name  shall  be  sacredly  secret. 
You  can  render  such  incalculable  services  in  this  way  as 
to  lessen  the  effect  of  our  loss  of  your  presence  here." 

Whether  Mr.  Jefferson's  declaration,  that  he  never  wrote 
a  word  for  a  newspaper  in  his  life,  be  true  or  not,  is  a  point 
that  need  not  be  determined.  Every  person  who  shall 
read  the  foregoing  extracts  from  his  letters,  will  form  his 
own  opinion.  That  he  was  extremely  urgent  with  his 
friends  to  perform  that  service  for  his  party  and  their  prin 
ciples,  and  stimulated  them  to  the  duty  by  every  motive 
that  he  could  lay  before  them,  cannot  be  denied ;  and  in 
one  instance,  that  with  characteristic  caution  and  cunning, 
he  had  prepared  an  article,  in  the  shape  of  a  petition,  in 
tended  to  counteract  the  effects  of  a  presentment  of  a  grand 
jury,  and  was  expressly  designed  to  be  published  in  the 
newspapers,  at  a  critical  moment  which  was  expected  to 
arrive,  is  certain  from  his  own  declaration.  He  did  not,  it 
is  true,  mean  to  acknowledge  it  as  his  own  offspring.  But 
it  is  said  to  have  been  no  uncommon  thing  for  him  to  be 
placed  in  a  similar  situation,  with  regard  even  to  those  who 
might  have  claimed  a  nearer  relationship  to  him  than  such 
as  is  formed  by  the  artificial  ties  of  political  partizanship, 
but  who  he  did  not  openly  acknowledge  as  such.  As  far 
forth  as  these  intimate  friends  and  councillors  of  his  en 
gaged,  at  his  solicitation,  in  newspaper  disquisitions,  he 
is  as  much  responsible  for  their  productions,  according  to 
the  maxim  above  alluded  to,  as  if  they  had  been  written  by 


344  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

his  own  hand.  Under  such  circumstances,  it  was  hardly 
worth  his  while  to  acquit  himself  of  the  charge  of  having 
never  written  for  the  newspapers,  nor  will  he  gain  much 
credit  for  his  assertions,  when  he  was  so  anxious  to  induce 
his  friends  to  write,  and  when  it  is  well  known  that  he 
placed  at  least  as  much  confidence  in  his  own  talents  as 
he  did  in  those  of  any  other  man. 

The  federalists  viewed  Mr.  Jefferson  as  an  unbeliever 
in  Christianity  ;  and  whatever  might  have  been  originally 
the  state  of  his  mind  on  the  subject,  that  during  his  resi 
dence  in  France,  he  had  imbibed  the  loose  sentiments  of 
their  revolutionists  and  infidel  philosophers,  and  was  there 
fore  an  unfit  man  to  be  elected  chief  magistrate  of  a  nation 
professedly  Christian.  To  prove  the  justice  of  their  esti 
mate  of  his  character,  the  following  extracts  from  his  let 
ters  are  adduced. 

In  the  3d  volume  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  works,  page  461,  is 
a  letter  from  him  to  Dr.  Joseph  Priestly,  dated  March  21, 
1804,  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract : — 

"  I  learned  some  time  ago  that  you  were  in  Philadel 
phia,  but  that  it  was  only  for  a  fortnight ;  and  I  supposed 
you  were  gone.  It  was  not  till  yesterday  I  received  infor 
mation  that  you  were  still  there,  had  been  very  ill,  but 
were  on  the  recovery.  I  sincerely  rejoice  that  you  are  so. 
Yours  is  one  of  the  few  lives  precious  to  mankind,  and  for 
the  continuance  of  which  every  thinking  man  is  solicitous. 
Bigots  may  be  an  exception.  What  an  effort  of  bigotry  in 
politics  and  religion  have  we  gone  through.  The  barba 
rians  really  flattered  themselves  they  should  be  able  to 
bring  back  the  times  of  Vandalism,  when  ignorance  put 
everything  into  the  hands  of  power  and  priestcraft.  All 
advances  in  science  were  proscribed  as  innovations.  They 
pretended  to  praise  and  encourage  education,  but  it  was  to 
be  the  education  of  our  ancestors.  We  were  to  look  back- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  345 

wards,  not  forwards,  for  improvement :  the  president  him 
self  declaring  in  one  of  his  answers  to  addresses,  that  we 
were  never  to  expect  to  go  beyond  them  in  real  science. 
This  was  the  real  ground  of  all  the  attacks  on  you  :  those 
who  live  by  mystery  and  charlatanerie,  fearing  you  would 
render  them  useless  by  simplifying  the  Christian  philoso 
phy,  the  most  sublime  and  benevolent  but  most  perverted 
system  that  ever  shone  on  man,  endeavored  to  crush  your 
well  earned  and  well  deserved  fame.  But  it  was  the  Lil 
liputians  upon  Gulliver.  Our  countrymen  have  recovered 
from  the  alarm  into  which  art  and  industry  had  thrown 
them  ;  science  and  honesty  are  replaced  on  their  high 
ground ;  and  you,  as  their  great  apostle,  are  on  its  pin 
nacle." 

In  the  506th  page  of  the  same  volume,  is  a  letter  to  doc 
tor  Benjamin  Rush,  dated  April  21,  1803,  from  which  the 
following  extract  is  taken  : — 

"  In  some  of  the  delightful  conversations  with  you,  in 
the  evenings  of  1798-99,  and  which  served  as  an  anodyne 
to  the  afflictions  through  which  our  country  was  then  la 
boring,  the  Christian  religion  was  sometimes  our  topic: 
and  I  then  promised  you  that,  one  day  or  other,  I  would 
give  you  my  views  of  it.  They  are  the  result  of  a  life  of 
inquiry  and  reflection,  and  very  different  from  that  anti- 
Christian  system  imputed  to  me  by  those  who  know  noth 
ing  of  my  opinions.  To  the  corruptions  of  Christianity 
I  am  indeed  opposed ;  but  not  to  the  genuine  precepts  of 
Jesus  himself.  I  am  a  Christian  in  the  only  sense  in  [ 
which  he  wished  any  one  to  be  ;  sincerely  attached  to  his  | 
doctrines  in  preference  to  all  others;  ascribing  to  himself 
every  human  excellence ;  and  believing  he  never  claimed 
any  other.  At  the  short  intervals  since  these  conversa 
tions,  when  I  could  justifiably  abstract  my  mind  from  pub 
lic  affairs,  the  subject  has  been  under  contemplation.  But 


346  THE    CHARACTER  OF 

the  more  I  considered  it,  the  more  it  expanded  beyond  the 
measure  of  either  my  time  or  information.  In  the  mo 
ment  of  my  late  departure  from  Monticello,  I  received  from 
doctor  Priestly  his  little  treatise  of  '  Socrates  and  Jesus 
compared.'  This  being  a  section  of  the  general  view  I 
had  taken  of  the  field,  it  became  a  subject  of  reflection 
while  on  the  road  and  unoccupied  otherwise.  The  result 
was  to  arrange  in  my  mind  a  syllabus  or  outline  of  such 
an  estimate  of  the  comparative  merits  of  Christianity  as  I 
wished  to  see  executed  by  some  one  of  more  leisure  and 
information  for  the  task  than  myself.  This  I  now  send 
you,  as  the  only  discharge  of  my  promise  I  can  probably 
ever  execute.  And  in  confiding  it  to  you,  I  know  it  will 
not  be  exposed  to  the  malignant  perversions  of  those  who 
make  every  word  from  me  a  text  for  new  misrepresenta 
tions  and  calumnies.  I  am,  moreover,  averse  to  the  com 
munication  of  my  religious  tenets  to  the  public ;  because  it 
would  countenance  the  presumption  of  those  who  have  en 
deavored  to  draw  them  before  that  tribunal,  and  to  seduce 
public  opinion  to  erect  itself  into  that  inquisition  over  the 
rights  of  conscience,  which  the  laws  have  so  justly  pro 
scribed.  It  behooves  every  man  who  values  liberty  of  con 
science,  for  himself,  to  resist  invasions  of  it  in  the  case  of 
others ;  or  their  case  may,  by  change  of  circumstances,  be 
come  his  own.  It  behooves  him,  too,  in  his  own  case,  to 
give  no  example  of  concession,  betraying  the  common  right 
of  independent  opinion,  by  answering  questions  of  faith, 
which  the  laws  have  left  between  God  and  himself. 

"  Syllabus  of  an  estimate  of  the  merit  of  the  doctrines  of 

Jesus  compared  with  those  of  others. 
"  In  a  comparative  view  of  the  ethics  of  the  enlightened 
nations  of  antiquity,  of  the  Jews  and  of  Jesus,  no  notice 
should  be  taken  of  the  corruption  of  reason  among  the  an 
cients,  to  wit,  the  idolatry  and  superstition  of  the   vulgar, 


THOMAS     JEFFERSON.  347 

nor  of  the  corruptions  of  Christianity  by  the  learned  among 
its  professors. 

"  Let  a  just  view  be  taken  of  the  moral  principles  incul 
cated  by  the  most  esteemed  of  the  sects  of  ancient  philoso 
phy,  or  of  their  individuals ;  particularly  Pythagoras,  Soc 
rates,  Epicurus,  Cicero,  Epictetus,  Seneca,  Antoninus. 

"  I.  Philosophers.  1.  Their  precepts  related  chiefly  to 
ourselves,  and  the  government  of  those  passions  which, 
unrestrained,  would  disturb  the  tranquillity  of  our  minds. 
In  this  branch  of  philosophy  they  were  really  great. 

"2.  In  developing  our  duties  to  others,  they  were  short 
and  defective.  They  embraced,  indeed,  the  circles  of  kin 
dred  and  friends,  and  inculcated  patriotism,  or  the  love  of 
our  country  in  the  aggregate,  as  a  primary  obligation : 
towards  our  neighbors  and  countrymen  they  taught  justice, 
but  scarcely  viewed  them  as  within  the  circle  of  benevo 
lence.  Still  less  have  they  inculcated  peace,  charity,  and 
love  to  our  fellow-men,  or  embraced  with  benevolence  the 
whole  family  of  mankind. 

"  II.  Jews.  1.  Their  system  was  deism ;  that  is,  the  be- 1 
lief  of  one  only  God.  But  their  ideas  of  him  and  his  at-! 
tributes  were  degrading  and  injurious. 

"  2.  Their  ethics  were  not  only  imperfect,  but  often  ir 
reconcilable  with  the  sound  dictates  of  reason  and  morali 
ty,  as  they  respect  intercourse  with  those  around  us ;  and 
repulsive  and  anti-social  as  respecting  other  nations.  They 
needed  reformation,  therefore,  in  an  eminent  degree. 

"  III.  Jesus.  In  this  state  of  things  among  the  Jews,  Je 
sus  appeared.  His  parentage  was  obscure ;  his  condition 
poor ;  his  education  null ;  his  natural  endowments  great ; 
his  life  correct  and  innocent:  he  was  meek,  benevolent, 
patient,  firm,  disinterested,  and  of  the  sublimest  eloquence. 

"  The  disadvantages  under  which  his  doctrines  appear 
are  remarkable. 


348  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

"  1.  Like  Socrates  and  Epictetus,  he  wrote  nothing  him 
self. 

"  2.  But  he  had  not,  like  them,  a  Xenophon  or  an  Ar- 
rian  to  write  for  him.  I  name  not  Plato,  who  only  used 
the  name  of  Socrates  to  cover  the  whimsies  of  his  own 
brain.  On  the  contrary,  all  the  learned  of  his  country,  en 
trenched  in  his  power  and  riches,  were  opposed  to  him, 
lest  his  labors  should  undermine  their  advantages ;  and  the 
committing  to  writing  his  life  and  doctrines  fell  on  unlet 
tered  and  ignorant  men,  who  wrote,  too,  from  memory, 
and  not  till  long  after  the  transactions  had  passed. 

"  3.  According  to  the  ordinary  fate  of  those  who  attempt 
to  enlighten  and  reform  mankind,  he  fell  an  early  victim  to 
the  jealousy  and  combination  of  the  altar  and  the  throne, 
at  about  thirty-three  years  of  age,  his  reason  not  having 
yet  attained  the  maximum  of  its  energy,  nor  the  course  of 
his  preaching,  which  was  but  of  three  years  at  most,  pre 
sented  occasions  for  developing  a  complete  system  of 
morals. 

"  4.  Hence  the  doctrines  which  he  really  delivered  were 
defective  as  a  whole,  and  fragments  of  what  he  did  deliver 
have  come  to  us  mutilated,  misstated,  and  often  unintelli 
gible. 

"  5.  They  have  been  still  more  disfigured  by  the  cor 
ruptions  of  schismatizing  followers,  who  have  found  an  in 
terest  in  sophisticating  and  perverting  the  simple  doctrines 
he  taught  by  engrafting  on  them  the  mysticisms  of  a  Gre 
cian  sophist,  frittering  them  into  subtleties,  and  obscuring 
them  with  jargon,  until  they  have  caused  good  men  to  re 
ject  the  whole  in  disgust,  and  to  view  Jesus  himself  as  an 
impostor. 

"  Notwithstanding  these  disadvantages,  a  system  of  mor 
als  is  presented  to  us,  which,  if  filled  up  in  the  style  and 
spirit  of  the  rich  fragments  he  left  us,  would  be  the  most 
perfect  and  sublime  that  has  ever  been  taught  by  man. 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  349 

"  The  question  of  his  being  a  member  of  the  Godhead, 
or  in  direct  communication  with  it,  claimed  for  him  by 
some  of  his  followers  and  denied  by  others,  is  foreign  to 
the  present  view,  which  is  merely  an  estimate  of  the  intrin 
sic  merit  of  his  doctrines. 

"  1.  He  corrected  the  deism  of  the  Jews,  confirming 
them  in  their  belief  of  one  only  God,  and  giving  them  just- 
er  notions  of  his  attributes  and  government. 

"  2.  His  moral  doctrines,  relating  to  kindred  and  friends, 
were  more  pure  and  perfect  than  those  of  the  most  correct 
of  the  philosophers,  and  greatly  more  so  than  those  of  the 
Jews  ;  and  they  went  far  beyond  both  in  inculcating  uni 
versal  philanthropy,  not  only  to  kindred  and  friends,  to 
neighbors  and  countrymen,  but  to  all  mankind,  gathering 
all  into  one  family  under  the  bonds  of  love,  charity,  peace, 
common  wants  and  common  aids.  A  development  of  this 
head  will  evince  the  peculiar  superiority  of  the  system  of 
Jesus  over  all  others. 

"  3.  The  precepts  of  philosophy,  and  of  the  Hebrew- 
code,  laid  hold  of  actions  only.  He  pushed  his  scrutinies 
into  the  heart  of  man ;  erected  his  tribunal  in  the  region 
of  his  thoughts,  and  purified  the  waters  at  the  fountain, 
head. 

"  4.  He  taught,  emphatically,  the  doctrine  of  a  future  state,, 
which  was  either  doubted  or  disbelieved  by  the  Jews ;  and 
wielded  it  with  efficacy,  as  an  important  incentive,  supple 
mentary  to  the  other  motives  to  moral  conduct." 

In  a  letter  to  John  Adams,  dated  August  22,  1813,  (4th- 
vol.  Jefferson's  works,  page  204,)  is  the  following  pas 
sage  :— 

"  Your  approbation  of  my  outline  to  Dr.  Priestly  is  a 
great  gratification  to  me;  and  I  very  much  suspect  that  if 
thinking  men  would  have  the  courage  to  think  for  them 
selves,  and  to  speak  what  they  think,  it  would  be  found: 
30 


350 


THE    CHARACTER    OF 


they  do  not  differ  in  religious  opinions  as  much  as  is  sup 
posed.  I  remember  to  have  heard  Dr.  Priestly  say,  that 
if  all  England  would  candidly  examine  themselves,  and 
confess,  they  would  find  that  Unitarianism  was  really  the 
religion  of  all :  and  I  observe  a  bill  is  now  depending  in 
parliament  for  the  relief  of  anti-Trinitarians.  It  is  too 
late  in  the  day  for  men  of  sincerity  to  pretend  they  believe 
in  the  Platonic  mysticisms  that  three  are  one,  and  one  is 
three  ;  and  yet  that  the  one  is  not  three,  and  the  three  are 
not  one  :  to  divide  mankind  by  a  single  letter  into  omoou- 
sians  and  omoiousians.  But  this  constitutes  the  craft,  the 
power,  and  the  profit  of  the  priests.  Sweep  away  their 
gossamer  fabrics  of  factitious  religion,  and  they  would 
catch  no  more  flies.  We  should  all  then,  like  the  Qua 
kers,  live  without  an  order  of  priests,  moralize  for  our 
selves,  follow  the  oracle  of  conscience,  and  say  nothing 
about  what  no  man  can  understand,  nor  therefore  believe ; 
for  I  suppose  belief  to  be  the  assent  of  the  mind  to  an  in 
telligible  proposition." 

The  letter  to  William  Short,  dated  April  13,  1820,  from 
which  the  following  extract  is  taken,  will  be  found  in  the 
4th  volume  of  Jefferson's  works,  page  320. 

"  Your  favor  of  March  27th  is  received,  and,  as  you  re 
quest,  a  copy  of  the  syllabus  is  now  enclosed.  It  was  ori 
ginally  written  to  Dr.  Rush.  On  his  death,  fearing  that 
the  inquisition  of  the  public  might  get  hold  of  it,  I  asked 
the  return  of  it  from  the  family,  which  they  kindly  com 
plied  with.  At  the  request  of  another  friend,  I  had  given 
him  a  copy.  He  lent  it  to  his  friend  to  read,  who  copied 
it,  and  in  a  few  months  it  appeared  in  the  Theological  Mag 
azine  of  London.  Happily,  that  repository  is  scarcely 
known  in  this  country;  and  the  syllabus,  therefore,  is  still 
a  secret,  and  in  your  hands  I  am  sure  it  will  continue  so. 

"  But  while  this  syllabus  is  meant  to  place  the  charac- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  351 

ter  of  Jesus  in  its  true  light,  as  no  impostor  himself,  but  a 
great  reformer  of  the  Hebrew  code  of  religion,  it  is  not  to 
be  understood  that  I  am  with  him  in  all  his  doctrines.  I 
am  a  materialist ;  he  takes  the  side  of  spiritualism :  he 
preaches  the  efficacy  of  repentance  towards  forgiveness  of 
sin ;  I  require  a  counterpoise  of  good  works  to  redeem  it, 
&c.  &c.  It  is  the  innocence  of  his  character,  the  purity 
and  sublimity  of  his  moral  precepts,  the  eloquence  of  his  in 
culcations,  the  beauty  of  the  apologues  in  which  he  conveys 
them  that  I  so  much  admire ;  sometimes,  indeed,  needing 
indulgence  to  eastern  hyperbolism.  My  eulogies,  too,  may 
be  founded  on  a  postulate  which  all  may  not  be  ready  to 
grant.  Among  the  sayings  and  discourses  imputed  to  him 
by  his  biographers,  I  find  many  passages  of  fine  imagina 
tion,  correct  morality,  and  of  the  most  lovely  benevolence  ; 
and  others,  again,  of  so  much  ignorance,  so  much  absurdi 
ty,  so  much  untruth,  charlatanism  and  imposture,  as  to 
pronounce  it  impossible  that  such  contradictions  should 
have  proceeded  from  the  same  being.  1  separate,  there 
fore,  the  gold  from  the  dross ;  restore  to  him  the  former, 
and  leave  the  latter  to  the  stupidity  of  some,  and  roguery 
of  others,  of  his  disciples.  Of  this  band  of  dupes  and  im 
postors,  Paul  was  the  great  Coryph&us  and  first  corrupt- 
er  of  the  doctrines  of  Jesus.  These  palpable  interpola 
tions  and  falsifications  of  his  doctrines  led  me  to  try  to  sift 
them  apart.  I  found  the  work  obvious  and  easy,  and  that 
his  part  composed  the  most  beautiful  morsel  of  morality 
which  has  been  given  to  us  by  man.  The  syllabus  is 
therefore  of  his  doctrine,  not  all  of  mine.  I  read  them  as 
I  do  those  of  other  ancient  and  modern  moralists,  with  a 
mixture  of  approbation  and  dissent." 

At  the  325th  page  of  the  same  volume,  there  is  another 
letter  to  Mr.  Short,  from  which  the  following  extract  is  ta 
ken  :— 


352  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

"  I  owe  you  a  letter  for  your  favor  of  June  the  29th, 
which  was  received  in  due  time ;  and  there  being  no  sub 
ject  of  the  day  of  particular  interest,  I  will  make  this  a 
supplement  to  mine  of  April  the  13th.  My  aim  in  that 
was,  to  justify  the  character  of  Jesus  against  the  fictions 
of  his  psuedo  followers,  which  have  exposed  him  to  the 
inference  of  being  an  impostor.  For  if  we  could  believe 
that  he  really  countenanced  the  follies,  the  falsehoods,  and 
the  charlatanisms  which  his  biographers  father  on  him, 
and  admit  the  misconstructions,  interpolations,  and  theori- 
zations  of  the  fathers  of  the  early  and  the  fanatics  of  the 
latter  ages,  the  conclusion  would  be  irresistible  by  every 
sound  mind,  that  he  was  an  impostor.  I  give  no  credit  to 
their  falsifications  of  his  actions  and  doctrines,  and  to  res 
cue  his  character,  the  postulate  in  my  letter  asked  only 
what  is  granted  in  reading  every  other  historian.  When 
Livy  and  Siculus,  for  example,  tell  us  things  which  coin 
cide  with  our  experience  of  the  order  of  nature,  we  credit 
them  on  their  word,  and  place  their  narrations  among  the 
records  of  credible  history.  But  when  they  tell  us  of 
calves  speaking,  of  statues  sweating  blood,  and  other  things 
against  the  course  of  nature,  we  reject  these  as  fables  not 
belonging  to  history.  In  like  manner,  when  an  historian, 
speaking  of  a  character  well  known  and  established  on 
satisfactory  testimony,  imputes  to  it  things  incompatible 
with  that  character,  we  reject  them  without  hesitation,  and 
assent  to  that  only  of  which  we  have  better  evidence.  I 
say,  that  this  free  exercise  of  reason  is  all  I  ask  for  the  vin 
dication  of  the  character  of  Jesus.  We  find  in  the  writ 
ings  of  his  biographers  matter  of  two  distinct  descriptions. 
First,  a  ground  work  of  vulgar  ignorance,  of  things  impos 
sible,  of  superstitions,  fanaticisms,  and  fabrications.  Inter 
mixed  with  these,  again,  are  sublime  ideas  of  the  supreme 
Being,  aphorisms  and  precepts  of  the  purest  morality  and 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  353 

benevolence,  sanctioned  by  a  life  of  humility,  innocence, 
and  simplicity  of  manners,  neglect  of  riches,  absence  of 
worldly  ambition  and  honors,  with  an  eloquence  and  per 
suasiveness  which  have  not  been  surpassed.  These  could 
not  be  inventions  of  the  groveling  authors  who  relate 
them.  They  are  far  beyond  the  powers  of  their  feeble 
minds.  They  show  that  there  was  a  character,  the  sub 
ject  of  their  history,  whose  splendid  conceptions  were 
above  all  suspicion  of  being  interpolations  from  their  hands. 
Can  we  be  at  a  loss  in  separating  such  materials,  and  as- 
scribing  each  to  its  genuine  author?  The  difference  is 
obvious  to  the  eye  and  to  the  understanding,  and  we  may 
read  as  we  run  to  each  his  part ;  and  I  will  venture  to  affirm 
that  he  who,  as  I  have  done,  will  undertake  to  winnow 
this  grain  from  its  chaff,  will  find  it  not  to  require  a  mo 
ment's  consideration.  The  parts  fall  asunder  of  them 
selves,  as  would  those  of  an  image  of  metal  and  clay. 

"  There  are,  I  acknowledge,  passages  not  free  from  ob 
jections,  which  we  may  with  probability  ascribe  to  Jesus 
himself;  but  claiming  indulgence  from  the  circumstances 
under  which  he  acted.  His  object  was  the  reformation  of 
some  articles  in  the  religion  of  the  Jews,  as  taught  by  Mo 
ses.  That  sect  had  presented  for  the  object  of  their  wor 
ship,  a  being  of  terrific  character,  cruel,  vindictive,  ca 
pricious,  and  unjust.  Jesus,  taking  for  his  type  the  best 
qualities  of  the  human  head  and  heart,  wisdom,  justice, 
goodness,  and  adding  to  them  power,  ascribed  all  of  these, 
but  in  infinite  perfection,  to  the  supreme  Being,  and  form 
ed  him  really  worthy  of  their  admiration. 

"  Moses  had  either  not  believed  in  a  future  state  of  ex 
istence,  or  had  not  thought  it  essential  to  be  explicitly 
taught  to  his  people.  Jesus  inculcated  that  doctrine  with 
emphasis  and  precision.  Moses  had  bound  the  Jews  to 
many  idle  ceremonies,  mummeries,  and  observances,  of  no 
30* 


354  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

effect  towards  producing  the  social  utilities  which  consti 
tute  the  essence  of  virtue ;  Jesus  exposed  their  futility 
and  insignificance.  The  one  instilled  into  his  people  the 
most  anti-social  spirit  towards  other  nations;  the  other 
preached  philanthropy  and  universal  charity  and  benevo 
lence.  The  office  of  reformer  of  the  superstitions  of  a 
nation  is  ever  dangerous.  Jesus  had  to  walk  on  the  per 
ilous  confines  of  reason,  and  religion :  and  a  step  to  right 
or  left  might  place  him  within  the  gripe  of  the  priests  of 
the  superstition,  a  blood-thirsty  race,  as  cruel  and  remorse 
less  as  the  being  whom  they  represented  as  the  family  God 
of  Abraham,  of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob,  and  the  local  God  of 
Israel.  They  were  constantly  laying  snares,  too,  to  en 
tangle  him  in  the  web  of  the  law.  He  was  justifiable, 
therefore,  in  avoiding  these  by  evasions,  by  sophisms,  by 
misconstructions,  and  misapplications  of  scraps  of  the 
prophets,  and  in  defending  himself  with  these  their  own 
weapons,  as  sufficient  ad  homines,  at  least.  That  Jesus 
did  not  mean  to  impose  himself  on  mankind  as  the  son  of 
God,  physically  speaking,  I  have  been  convinced  by  the 
writings  of  men  more  learned  than  myself  in  that  lore. 
;But  that  he  might  conscientiously  believe  himself  inspired 
from  above,  is  very  possible.  The  whole  religion  of  the 
Jews,  inculcated  on  him  from  his  infancy,  was  founded  in 
the  divine  inspiration.  The  fumes  of  the  most  disordered 
imaginations  were  recorded  in  their  religious  code,  as  spe- 
•  cial  communications  of  the  Deity ;  and  as  it  could  not  but 
happen  that,  in  the  course  of  ages,  events  would  now  and 
then  turn  up  to  which  some  of  these  vague  rhapsodies 
might  be  accommodated  by  the  aid  of  allegories,  figures, 
types,  and  other  tricks  upon  words,  they  have  not  only 
preserved  their  credit  with  the  Jews  of  all  subsequent 
times,  but  are  the  foundation  of  much  of  the  religions  of 
t those  who  have  schismatized  from  them.  Elevated  by 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  355 

the  enthusiasm  of  a  warm  and  pure  heart,  conscious  of 
the  high  strains  of  an  eloquence  which  had  not  been 
taught  him,  he  might  readily  mistake  the  coruscations  of 
his  own  fine  genius  for  inspirations  of  a  higher  order. 
This  belief  carried,  therefore,  no  more  personal  imputation 
than  the  belief  of  Socrates,  that  himself  was  under  the 
care  and  admonitions  of  a  guardian  daemon.  And  how 
many  of  our  wisest  men  still  believe  in  the  reality  of  these 
inspirations,  while  perfectly  sane  on  all  other  subjects. 
Excusing,  therefore,  on  these  considerations,  those  passa 
ges  in  the  gospels  which  seem  to  bear  marks  of  weakness 
in  Jesus,  ascribing  to  him  what  alone  is  consistent  with 
the  great  and  pure  character  of  which  the  same  writings 
furnish  proofs,  and  to  their  proper  authors  their  own  triv 
ialities  and  imbecilities,  I  think  myself  authorized  to  con 
clude  the  purity  and  disposition  of  his  character,  in  opposi 
tion  to  the  impostures  which  those  authors  would  fix  upon 
him  ;  and  that  the  postulate  of  my  former  letter  is  no  more 
than  is  granted  in  all  other  historical  works.1' 

Mr  Jefferson  introduces  the  subject  of  religion  into  sev 
eral  other  letters,  of  a  later  date  than  that  from  which  the 
preceding  extracts  are  taken,  which  contain  sentiments  of 
a  character  somewhat  similar  to  those  already  quoted  ;  but 
it  is  not  necessary  to  copy  them  here.  One  additional  let 
ter  only  will  be  noticed. 

In  the  4th  volume  of  his  works,  page  363,  is  a  letter  to 
John  Adams,  dated  April  11,  1823,  (a  little  more  than 
three  years  before  his  death)  from  which  the  following  ex 
tract  is  taken : — 

"  The  wishes  expressed  in  your  last  favor,  that  I  may 
continue  in  life  and  health,  until  I  become  a  Calvinist,  at 
least  in  his  exclamation  of  '  Mon  Dieu  !  jusqu'  a  quand  ?' 
would  make  me  immortal.  I  can  never  join  Calvin  in  ad 
dressing  his  God.  He  was  indeed  an  atheist,  which  I  can 


356  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

never  be ;  or  rather  his  religion  was  dosmonism.  If  ever 
man  worshipped  a  false  God  he  did.  The  being  described 
in  his  five  points  is  not  the  God  whom  you  and  I  acknowl 
edge  and  adore,  the  creator  and  benevolent  governor  of 
the  world;  but  a  daemon  of  malignant  spirit.  It  would  be 
more  pardonable  to  believe  in  no  God  at  all,  than  to  blas 
pheme  by  the  atrocious  attributes  of  Calvin.  Indeed,  I 
think  that  every  Christian  sect  gives  a  great  handle  to 
atheism  by  their  general  dogma,  that,  without  a  revelation, 
there  would  not  be  sufficient  proof  of  the  being  of  a  God. 
Now  one  sixth  of  mankind  only  are  supposed  to  be  Chris 
tians  :  the  other  five-sixths  then,  who  do  not  believe  in  the 
Jewish  and  Christian  revelation,  are  without  a  knowledge 
of  the  existence  of  a  God  !  This  gives  completely  a  gain 
de  cause  to  the  disciples  of  Ocellus,  Timseus,  Spinosa,  Di 
derot  and  D'Holbach.  The  argument  which  they  rest  on 
as  triumphant  and  unanswerable  is,  that  in  every  hypoth 
esis  of  cosmogony,  you  must  admit  an  eternal  pre-exist- 
ence  of  something;  and  according  to  the  rule  of  sound 
philosophy,  you  are  never  to  employ  two  principles  to  solve 
a  difficulty  when  one  will  suffice.  They  say,  then,  that  it 
is  more  simple  to  believe  at  once  in  the  eternal  pre-exist- 
ence  of  the  world  as  it  is  now  going  on,  and  may  forever 
go  on  by  the  principle  of  reproduction  which  we  see  and 
witness,  than  to  believe  in  the  eternal  pre-existence  of  an 
ulterior  cause,  or  creator  of  the  World,  a  being  whom  we 
see  not  and  know  not,  of  whose  form,  substance,  and  mode, 
or  place  of  existence,  or  of  action,  no  sense  informs  us,  no 
power  of  the  mind  enables  us  to  delineate  or  comprehend. 
On  the  contrary,  I  hold,  (without  appeal  to  revelation)  that 
when  we  take  a  view  of  the  universe,  in  its  pants,  general 
or  particular,  it  is  impossible  for  the  human  mind  not  to 
perceive  and  feel  a  conviction  of  design,  consummate  skill, 
and  indefinite  power  in  every  atom  of  its  composition. 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  357 

The  movements  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  so  exactly  held  in 
their  course  by  the  balance  of  centrifugal  and  centripetal 
forces ;  the  structure  of  our  earth  itself,  with  its  distribution 
of  lands,  waters  and  atmosphere ;  animal  and  vegetable 
bodies,  examined  in  all  their  minutest  particles ;  insects, 
mere  atoms  of  life,  yet  as  perfectly  organized  as  man  or 
mammoth ;  the  mineral  substances,  their  generation  and 
uses ;  it  is  impossible,  I  say,  for  the  human  mind  not  to 
believe,  that  there  is  in  all  this  design,  cause  and  effect,  up 
to  an  ultimate  cause,  a  fabricator  of  all  things  from  matter 
and  motion,  their  preserver  and  regulator  while  permitted 
to  exist  in  their  present  forms,  and  their  regenerator  into 
new  and  other  forms.  We  see,  too,  evident  proofs  of  the 
necessity  of  a  superintending  power  to  maintain  the  uni 
verse  in  its  course  arid  order.  Stars,  well  known,  have 
disappeared,  new  ones  have  come  into  view ;  comets,  in 
their  incalculable  courses,  may  run  foul  of  suns  and  plan 
ets,  and  require  renovation  under  other  laws  ;  certain  races 
of  animals  are  become  extinct ;  and  were  there  no  restor 
ing  power,  all  existences  might  extinguish  successively, 
one  by  one,  until  all  should  be  reduced  to  a  shapeless  chaos. 
So  irresistible  are  these  evidences  of  an  intelligible  and 
powerful  agent,  that,  of  the  infinite  numbers  of  men  who 
have  existed  through  all  time,  they  have  believed,  in  the 
proportion  of  a  million  at  least  to  unit,  in  the  hypothesis 
of  an  eternal  pre-existence  of  a  creator,  rather  than  in  that 
of  a  self-existent  universe.  Surely  this  unanimous  senti 
ment  renders  this  more  probable  than  that  of  the  few  in 
the  other  hypothesis — cause  and  effect. 

"  Of  the  nature  of  this  being  we  know  nothing.  Jesus 
tells  us,  that  *  God  is  a  spirit,'  but  without  defining  what  a 
spirit  is.  Down  to  the  third  century,  that  it  was  still  deem 
ed  material ;  but  of  a  lighter  and  subtler  matter  than  our 
gross  bodies. 


358  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

"  Calvin's  character  of  the  supreme  Being  seems  chiefly 
copied  from  that  of  the  Jews.  But  the  reformation  of 
these  blasphemous  attributes,  and  substitution  of  those 
more  worthy,  pure  and  sublime,  seems  to  have  been  the 
chief  object  of  Jesus  in  his  discourses  to  the  Jews  :  and 
his  doctrine  of  the  cosmogony  of  the  world  is  very  clearly 
laid  down  in  the  three  first  verses  of  the  first  chapter  of 
John,  [quoting  the  passage  in  Greek.]  Which,  truly 
translated,  means,  '  In  the  beginning  God  existed,  and  rea 
son  (or  mind)  was  with  God,  and  that  mind  was  God. 
This  was  in  the  beginning  with  God.  All  things  were 
created  by  it,  and  without  it  was  not  one  thing  which  was 
made.'  Yet  this  text,  so  plainly  declaring  the  doctrine  of 
Jesus,  that  the  world  was  created  by  the  supreme  intelli 
gent  Being,  has  been  perverted  by  modern  Christians  to 
build  up  a  second  person  of  their  tri-theism,  by  a  mistrans 
lation  of  the  word  logos.  One  of  its  legitimate  meanings, 
indeed,  is,  *  a  word.'  But  in  that  sense  it  makes  an  un 
meaning  jargon  :  while  the  other  meaning,  '  reason,'  equal 
ly  legitimate,  explains  rationally  the  eternal  pre-existence 
of  God,  and  his  creation  of  the  world.  Knowing  how  in 
comprehensible  it  was  that  *  a  word,'  the  mere  action  or  ar 
ticulation  of  the  organs  of  speech,  could  create  a  world,  they 
undertook  to  make  of  this  articulation  a  second  pre-existing 
being,  and  ascribe  to  him,  and  not  to  God,  the  creation  of 
the  universe.  The  atheist  here  plumes  himself  on  the 
uselessness  of  such  a  God,  and  the  simpler  hypothesis  of 
a  self-existent  universe.  The  truth  is,  that  the  greatest 
enemies  to  the  doctrines  of  Jesus  are  those  calling  them 
selves  the  expositors  of  them,  who  have  perverted  them  for 
the  structure  of  a  system  of  fancy  absolutely  incomprehen 
sible,  and  without  any  foundation  in  his  genuine  words. 
And  the  day  will  come,  when  the  mystical  generation  of 
Jesus,  by  the  supreme  Being  as  his  father,  in  the  womb  of 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  359 

a  virgin,  will  be  classed  with  the  fable  of  the  generation  of 
Minerva  in  the  brain  of  Jupiter.  But  we  may  hope  that 
the  dawn  of  reason  and  freedom  of  thought,  in  these  Uni 
ted  States,  will  do  away  all  this  artificial  scaffolding,  and 
restore  to  us  the  primitive  and  genuine  doctrines  of  this 
the  most  venerated  reformer  of  human  errors." 

From  the  general  tenor  and  spirit  of  the  letter  to  Dr. 
Priestly,  one  would  naturally  conclude  that  Mr.  Jefferson 
would  place  himself  in  the  ranks  of  Socinianism.  This 
was  the  creed  of  that  famous  ecclesiastic ;  and  as  he  had 
reduced  the  principles  of  [his  faith  far  below  the  Christian 
standard,  Mr.  Jefferson  was  probably  induced  to  think  fa 
vorably  of  his  system.  But  it  has  been  seen,  by  his  sub 
sequent  letters  on  this  subject,  that  he  adopted  a  plan  much 
inferior  in  the  scale  of  orthodoxy  to  that  of  Priestly.  Tuck 
er,  in  his  life  of  Jefferson  recently  published,  thinks  him 
self  authorized,  by  all  that  is  known  of  Mr.  Jefferson's 
system  of  faith,  to  say,  that  he  was  a  Theist — that  is,  that 
he  believed  in  a  God.  It  is  extremely  difficult  for  the 
mind  to  conceive  that  any  man,  living  under  the  full  and 
clear  light  of  Christianity,  can  be  an  atheist.  Mr.  Jeffer 
son  does  frequently  speak  in  such  a  manner  as  to  lead  the 
world  to  conclude  that  he  acknowledged  in  his  creed  the 
existence  of  a  supreme  Being.  But  there  are  expressions 
in  his  writings,  that  give  room  at  least  for  a  doubt,  whether 
he  even  reached  the  point  of  faith  conceded  to  him  by  his 
biographer.  It  is  very  certain  that  he  did  not  believe  at 
all  in  the  divine  origin  of  Christianity,  and,  of  course,  not 
in  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  even  of  the  New  Tes 
tament.  In  his  letter  to  Dr.  Rush,  when  speaking  of  the 
Saviour,  he  says,  "  His  parentage  was  obscure  ;  his  con 
dition  poor  ;  his  education  null ;  his  natural  endowments 
great ;  his  life  correct  and  innocent ;  he  was  meek,  benev 
olent,  patient,  firm,  disinterested,  and  of  the  sublimest  el- 


360  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

oquence."  This  is  placing  him  upon  the  ground  of  a 
mere  man,  possessed,  indeed,  of  extraordinary  qualities, 
but  nothing  above  the  rank  of  a  human  being — and  he 
says  that  he  believes  he  never  claimed  any  other  than  hu 
man  excellence.  And  he  considers  him  unfortunate  in  hav 
ing  written  none  of  his  own  doctrines,  but  depended  upon 
others  to  perform  that  task ;  and  those  were  unlettered 
and  ignorant  men.  This  makes  it  perfectly  clear,  that  Mr. 
Jefferson  did  not  believe  that  "  all  Scripture  was  given  by 
inspiration,"  as  he  places  the  New  Testament  upon  the 
same  footing  with  the  works  of  Xenophen  and  Arrian,  and 
of  course  other  reputable  works  of  profane  authors. 

He  considered  the  doctrines  which  Christ  really  deliver 
ed  defective,  as  a  whole ;  fragments  only  of  which  have 
come  down  to  us,  and  those  mutilated,  mis-stated,  and  often 
unintelligible.  That  Christ  might  conscientiously  be 
lieve  himself  inspired,  he  thinks  very  possible ;  and  he 
asks,  "  how  many  of  our  wisest  men  still  believe  in  the 
reality  of  these  inspirations,  while  perfectly  sane  on  all 
other  subjects."  On  such  considerations,  he  is  willing  to 
excuse  "  those  passages  in  the  gospels  which  seem  to  bear 
marks  of  weakness  in  Jesus,  ascribing  to  him  what  alone 
is  consistent  with  the  great  and  pure  character  of  which 
the  same  writings  furnish  proof,  and  to  their  proper  authors 
their  own  trivialities  and  imbecilities." 

Mr.  Jefferson  says,  the  Saviour's  doctrine  respecting  the 
creation  of  the  world  is  clearly  laid  down  in  the  three 
first  verses  of  the  first  chapter  of  John,  and  says  the  Greek, 
when  truly  translated,  means  that  "  In  the  beginning  God 
existed,  and  reason  or  mind,  was  with  God,  and  that  mind 
was  God.  This  was  in  the  beginning  with  God.  All 
things  were  created  by  it,  and  without  it  was  not  one  thing 
which  was  made."  If  there  is  any  meaning  in  this, 
it  is  that  reason,  or  mind,  which  it  would  seem  in  his  opin- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  361 

ion  means  the  same  thing,  is  God,  and  created  the  world; 
This  text,  he  says,  "  so  plainly  declaring  the  doctrine  of 
Jesus,  that  the  world  was  created  by  the  supreme  intelli 
gent  Being,  has  been  perverted  by  modern  Christians  to 
build  a  second  person  of  their  tri-theism  by  a  mistransla 
tion  of  the  word  Logos.  One  of  its  legitimate  meanings, 
indeed,  is  'a  word.'  But  in  that  sense,  it  makes  an  un 
meaning  jargon  :  while  the  other  meaning,  *  reason,'  equal 
ly  legitimate,  explains  rationally  the  eternal  pre-existence 
of  God,  and  his  creation  of  the  world."  If  Mr.  Jefferson 
had  taken  the  trouble  to  read  a  little  further  in  the  same 
chapter,  he  would  have  found  a  difficulty  in  h  is  system  in 
the  following  passage,  which  his  translation  of  Logos 
would  not  have  obviated — 

"He  was  in  the  world,  and  the  world  was  made  by 
him,  and  the  world  knew  him  not. 

"  He  came  unto  his  own,  and  his  own  received  him  not. 

"  But  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  power 
to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  oils 
his  name. 

"  Which  were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the^ 
flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God. 

"  And  the  Word  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us, 
and  we  beheld  his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only  begot 
ten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth." 

According  to  Mr.  Jefferson's  doctrine,  whatever  Logos 
means,  whether  word  or  reason  or  mind,  if  the  passage, 
just  quoted  speaks  the  truth,  that  word  or  reason  or  mind 
was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  on  the  earth — that  the  world 
was  made  by  him,  but  the  world  knew  him  not,  and  no 
criticism  was  ever  more  childish  and  contemptible,  than 
his  attempt  to  convey  the  idea  that  the  "  Word  "  spoken  of 
by  St.  John,  meant  no  more  than  the  mere  action  or  artic 
ulation  of  the  organs  of  speech.  John,  meant  to  say  that 
31 


362  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

the  Logos  which  he  named  created  the  world,  that  all 
things  were  made  by  him,  and  without  him  was  not  any 
thing  made  that  was  made,  and  that  he  was  made  flesh, 
and  dwelt  among  the  Jews.  If  he  believed  that  reason,  or 
mind,  was  capable  of  doing  all  this,  his  feelings  need  not 
to  have  been  alarmed  at  any  degree  of  credulity  with 
which  he  might  be  accused,  by  either  Christians  or  infidels. 
The  history  of  the  creation  in  the  Bible —  the  only  one 
that  does,  or  ever  did  exist — says,  "  And  GOD  said  LET 
THERE  BE  LIGHT  :  and  there  was  light"  If  this  account  of 
that  great  event  is  to  be  credited — and  all  Christians  be 
lieve  it — the  world  was  created  by  the  articulation  of  a 
very  short  sentence.  And  the  truth  of  the  story  is  after 
wards  reaffirmed  in  the  scriptures  in  the  concise  but  very 
emphatic  passage,  "  He  spake  and  it  was  done,  He  com 
manded,  and  it  stood  fast."  However  difficult  it  might 
have  been  for  Mr.  Jefferson  to  believe  in  the  existence  of 
omnipotence  in  any  being,  and  that  the  exertion  of  such 
a  power  could  create  a  world,  he  says,  that  without  ap 
pealing  to  revelation,  "  when  we  take  a  view  of  the  uni 
verse,  in  its  parts,  general  or  particular,  it  is  impossible  for 
the  human  mind  not  to  perceive  and  feel  a  conviction  of 
design,  consummate  skill,  and  indefinite  power  in  every  at 
om  of  its  composition."  The  Christian  has  no  difficulty 
on  this  subject.  He  appeals  to  revelation,  and  believes  it 
to  be  the  work  of  an  all-wise  and  an  all-powerful  God. 
But  Mr.  Jefferson,  obviously  unwilling  to  take  the  scrip 
tures  for  authority,  thinks  reason,  or  mind,  was  God,  and 
that  one  of  those  properties  actually  created  the  world. 
But  which  system  requires  the  greatest  stretch  of  creduli 
ty — to  believe  that  the  world  was  created,  and  is  governed 
by  the  exertion  of  reason  or  by  the  fiat  of  an  all-wise  and 
omnipotent  Being  ?  By  his  theory,  he  falls  into  the  gross 
absurdity  of  degrading  the  author  of  the  creation  to  3 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  .  363 

mere  inoperative  and  inefficient  agent,  and  this,  apparent 
ly,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  getting  rid  of  the  scriptural  ac 
count  of  that  marvelous  but  most  interesting  event. 

But,  upon  recurring  to  one  of  his  letters  to  Mr.  Adams, 
it  will  be  found  that  his  notions  of  the  supreme  Being  fall 
much  below  the  standard  even  of  reason  or  mind.  "  Of 
the  nature  of  this  being,"  he  says,  "  we  know  nothing.  Je 
sus  tells  us  that  'God  is  a  spirit,'  but  without  defining 
what  a  spirit  is.  Down  to  the  third  century,  that  it  was 
still  deemed  material ;  but  of  a  lighter  and  subtler  matter 
than  our  gross  bodies."  In  his  letter  to  Mr.  Short,  he 
says,  "  it  is  not  to  be  understood  that  I  am  with  him  (Je 
sus)  in  all  his  doctrines.  I  am  a  materialist ;  he  takes  the 
side  of  spiritualism." 

As  neither  Mr  Jefferson,  nor  any  other  person,  ever 
saw  or  discovered  a  material  supreme  Being,  and  as  he 
expressly  disclaims  the  Christian's  God,  it  would  seem  ne 
cessarily  to  follow,  that  he  believed  in  no  God;  or  in  oth 
er  words,  that  he  was  an  atheist. 

That  he  was  so,  may  be  fairly  inferred  from  the  lan 
guage  he  uses  when  speaking  of  the  God  of  the  Bible. 
This  is  not  merely  irreverent ;  it  is  blasphemous.  "  Jesus," 
he  says,  "  had  to  walk  on  the  perilous  confines  of  reason 
and  religion,  and  a  step  to  right  or  left,  might  place  him 
within  the  gripe  of  the  priests  of  the  superstition,  a  blood 
thirsty  race,  as  cruel  and  remorseless  as  the  being  whom 
they  represented  as  the  family  God  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac, 
and  of  Jacob,  and  the  local  God  of  Israel," — a  being  who, 
in  another  place,  he  describes  as  of  a  terrific  character, 
cruel,  vindictive,  capricious  and  unjust.  "  I  can  never," 
says  he  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Adams,  "join  Calvin  in  address 
ing  his  God.  He  was  indeed  an  atheist,  which  I  can  nev 
er  be ;  or  rather  his  religion  was  daemonism.  If  ever  man 
worshiped  a  false  God,  he  did.  The  being  described  in 


364 


THE    CHARACTER    OF 


his  five  points,  is  not  the  God  whom  you  and  I  acknowl 
edge  and  adore,  the  creator  and  benevolent  governor  of 
the  world  ;  but  a  daemon  of  a  malignant  spirit.  It  would 
be  more  pardonable  to  believe  in  no  God  at  all  than  to 
blaspheme  by  the  atrocious  attributes  of  Calvin.  Indeed,  I 
think  that  every  Christian  sect  gives  a  great  handle  to 
atheism  by  their  general  dogma,  that,  without  a  revelation, 
there  would  not  be  sufficient  proof  of  the  being  of  a  God." 
It  cannot  be  necessary  to  adopt  any  train  of  reasoning  to 
show  that  a  man  who  disbelieves  the  inspiration  and  di 
vine  authority  of  the  Scriptures — who  not  only  denies  the 
divinity  of  the  Saviour  but  reduces  him  to  the  grade  of  an 
uneducated,  ignorant  and  erring  man — who  calls  the  God 
of  Abraham,  (the  Jehovah  of  the  Bible,)  a  cruel  and  re 
morseless  being — cannot  be  a  Christian.  Nor,  after  seeing 
this,  can  it  excite  any  surprise  to  find  him,  when  speaking  of 
the  Saviour,  saying,  "  Among  the  sayings  and  discourses 
imputed  to  him  by  his  biographers,  I  find  many  passages 
of  fine  imagination,  correct  morality,  and  the  most  lovely 
benevolence ;  and  others,  again,  of  so  much  ignorance,  so 
much  absurdity,  so  much  untruth,  charlatanism  and  im 
posture,  as  to  pronounce  it  impossible  that  such  contradic 
tions  should  have  proceeded  from  the  same  being.  I  sep 
arate  the  gold  from  the  dross,  restore  to  him  the  former, 
and  leave  the  latter  to  the  stupidity  of  some,  and  roguery 
of  others  of  his  disciples.  Of  this  band  of  dupes  and  im 
postors,  Paul  was  the  great  Corypkceus  and  first  corrupt- 
er  of  the  doctrines  of  Jesus."* 

*  Since  writing  the  foregoing  account  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  reli 
gious  character,  the  following  fact  on  that  subject  has  been  com 
municated  to  the  author  by  a  gentleman  of  the  highest  respecta 
bility. 

A  senator  of  the  United  States,  having  occasion  to  examine 
Hutchinson's  History  of  Massachusetts — one  of  the  books  belong- 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  365 

In  the  foregoing  pages,  will  be  found  some  of  the  rea 
sons  why  the  federalists  were  opposed  to  Mr.  Jefferson 
as  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  president  of  the  United 
States.  The  number  might  easily  have  been  enlarged  ; 
but  the  list  is  numerous  enough  for  the  object  which  the 
author  has  in  view. 

They  considered  him  as  originally  opposed  to  the  con 
stitution  of  the  United  States — as  indulging  an  undue  and 
dangerous  attachment  to  the  principles  and  measures  of 
the  leaders  of  revolutionary  France — they  believed  that, 
if  once  placed  at  the  head  of  the  government,  he  would 
make  use  of  its  patronage  and  power  to  promote  his  own 
personal  interests,  and  to  cherish  and  foster  those  of  his 
party — that  he  entertained  a  deeply-rooted  and  inveterate 
hostility  to  an  independent  judiciary — that  his  senti 
ments  respecting  the  co-ordinate  powers  of  the  different 
branches  of  government,  and  especially  of  the  executive 
and  judicial,  were  unsound  and  dangerous — that  he  had 
imbibed  the  strange  and  absurd  vagary,  that  one  genera 
tion  of  men  could  not,  individually  or  collectively,  do  any 
act  that  would  be  obligatory  upon  their  successors  of  an 
other  generation — they  considered  him  as  a  mere  partizan 

ing  to  Mr.  Jefferson's  library  which  was  purchased  by  congress — 
came  across  the  passage  where  the  author  of  that  work  gives  an 
account  of  the  preaching  of  the  celebrated  Roger  Williams  to  the 
Indians,  in  the  course  of  which,  he  spoke  to  them  of  the  "  general 
resurrection ;"  upon  hearing  this  his  ignorant,  uncivilized  audi 
ence  gave  a  shout  of  unbelief  in  so  strange  a  doctrine.  On  the 
margin  opposite  this  account,  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  hand  writing,  it 
was  written,  "  Indians  are  not  so  stupid  as  to  believe  this."  This  was 
shown  to  a  senator  from  Virginia,  who  instantly  recognized  the 
entry  upon  the  margin  to  be  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  hand  writing,  and 
was  about  to  erase  it,  when  the  gentleman  told  him  he  must  return 
the  volume  to  the  library  es  he  received  it.  Some  time  afterwards 
he  saw  it  again,  and  the  erasure  had  been  made. 

31* 


366  THE    CHARACTER    OF 

in  politics,  who  would  sacrifice  the  welfare  of  his  country 
to  promote  that  of  his  political  associates — that  he  would 
pay  no  regard  to  the  provisions  or  principles  of  the  consti 
tution  if  they  stood  in  the  way  between  him  and  a  favor 
ite  object — they  believed  him  to  be  a  secret,  insiduous  en 
emy  of  Washington,  and  that  he  did  every  thing  he  dared 
to  destroy  his  popularity,  influence  and  character — they 
had  no  confidence  in  his  talents  as  a  statesman,  but  con 
sidered  him  as  a  visionary  theorist,  governed  by  the  ab 
stract,  dangerous  and  impracticable  notions  of  revolution 
ary  France,  instead  of  the  sound,  reasonable  and  practi 
cal  principles  of  experience  and  wisdom — that  without  the 
slightest  foundation  in  truth,  but  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
rendering  them  unpopular  and  odious,  and  to  promote  his 
own  interests,  he  accused  the  federalists  of  being  monarch 
ists,  and  of  endeavoring  to  change  our  government  into 
a  monarchy  founded  upon  a  similar  model  with  that  of 
Great  Britain — that  he  opposed  the  alien  and  sedition  laws, 
not  because  they  were  unconstitutional,  but  for  the  purpose 
;of  courting  popularity  with  foreigners  residing  in  the  coun- 
;try,  with  the  view  of  rendering  the  federalists  unpopular. 
The  federalists  had  no  confidence  in  Mr.  JefFeron's  veraci 
ty — they  considered  him  as  habitually  insincere  and  hyp 
ocritical — they  viewed  his  attacks  upon  the  political  char 
acter  of  Hamilton  as  vindictive  and  malignant,  and  intend 
ed  to  destroy  the  reputation  of  a  man  whom  he  viewed 
as  a  rival — that  he  would  descend  to  the  low  means  and 
.artifices  of  a  practiced  intriguer  and  demagogue  to  gain 
favor  with  the  lowest  classes  of  the  community — that  he 
was,  as  it  respected  religious  belief,  an  infidel  of  the  gross 
est  character,  and  bordering  closely  on  atheism.  The  ev 
idence  in  support  of  these  various  charges  and  allegations, 
is  the  best  of  which  the  nature  of  the  case  admits,  for  it  is 
»drawn  almost  exclusively  from  his  own  writings.  The 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON.  367 

only  question  will  be,  whether  it  supports  the  charges  and 
allegations  for  which  it  is  adduced.  If  it  does  not,  the  au 
thor  is  incapable  of  weighing  testimony.  If  it  does,  he 
has  accomplished  the  object  which  he  had  in  view ;  which 
was,  to  vindicate  the  character  and  policy  of  the  federal 
ists  from  aspersions  as  unjust  and  defamatory  as  were  ever 
uttered — to  rescue  them,  as  individuals  and  as  a  politi 
cal  party  from  the  reproaches  cast  upon  them  by  Mr.  Jef 
ferson  and  his  adherents ;  and  to  show  that  they  were  dis 
tinguished  public  benefactors,  and  virtuous,  patriotic  and 
disinterested  friends  of  the  constitution  and  liberties  of 
their  country.  To  their  talents  Mr.  Jefferson  himself, 
however  unwillingly,  was  forced  to  bear  abundant  testimo 
ny  ;  of  course,  their  claim  to  them  will  not  be  denied  or 
disputed  by  his  admirers  and  followers. 

If  his  own  character,  as  exhibited  in  this  work,  appears 
disadvantageously,  it  will  be  remembered  that,  however 
little  flattering  it  would  have  been  to  his  vanity,  or  howev 
er  mortifying  it  may  be  to  the  feelings  of  his  friends  or  to 
the  pride  of  those  who  affect  to  consider  him  the  boast 
and  ornament  of  his  country,  the  portrait  is  drawn  by  him 
self,  and  therefore  must  be  a  likeness.  At  the  same  time, 
the  fact  will  not  be  lost  sight  of,  that  the  materials  which 
have  been  made  use  of  in  the  delineation  of  this  charac 
ter  were  prepared  for  this  express  purpose  by  Mr.  Jefferson 
himself,  when  he  had  a  full  opportunity  to  review  the 
events  of  a  very  long  life,  which  was  just  then  drawing 
near  to  its  close,  and  to  select  from  the  great  mass  those, 
and  those  only,  on  which  he  wished  to  rest  his  claim  for 
the  applause  and  approbation  of  future  generations.  Ev 
ery  circumstance,  therefore,  recorded  by  him  wilh  the 
view  of  being  afterwards  transferred  to  his  annals,  must 
be  considered  as  possessing,  in  his  own  estimation,  much 
real  importance,  and  as  being  designed  to  convey  his  fame 


368  THOMAS    JEFFERSON. 

to  the  latest  period  of  time.  Whatever  opinions  the  pres 
ent  race  of  men  may  form  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  political  and 
moral  sentiments  and  principles  as  they  are  displayed  in 
this  work,  it  is  certain  that  the  exhibition  is  such  as  he  in 
tended  should  be  prepared  and  presented  to  the  world,  as 
the  foundation  of  his  claim  to  pre-eminence  over  the  dis 
tinguished  patriots  and  statesmen  of  his  country. 


APPENDIX. 


The  following  are  extracts  from  a  letter  to  general  Washington 
from  James  Madison,  dated  April  16th,  1787.  The  reader  will  nat 
urally  be  led  to  compare  the  suggestions  in  this  letter,  with  those 
by  general  Hamilton,  in  his  letter  to  colonel  Pickering. 

"  Having  been  lately  led  to  revolve  the  subject  which  is  to  un 
dergo  the  discussion  of  the  convention,  and  formed  in  my  mind 
some  outlines  of  a  new  system,  I  take  the  liberty  of  submitting 
them  without  apology  to  your  eye. 

"  Conceiving  that  an  individual  independence  of  the  states  is  to 
tally  irreconcilable  with  their  aggregate  sovereignty,  and  that  a 
consolidation  of  the  whole  into  one  simple  republic  would  be  as  in 
expedient  as  it  is  unattainable,  I  have  sought  for  some  middle 
ground,  which  may  at  once  support  a  due  supremacy  of  the  nation 
al  authority,  and  not  exclude  the  local  authorities  wherever  they 
can  be  subordinately  useful. 

"  I  would  propose  as  the  groundwork,  that  a  change  be  made  in 
the  principle  of  representation.  According  to  the  present  form  of 
the  Union,  in  which  the  intervention  of  the  states  is  in  all  great 
cases  necessary  to  effectuate  the  measures  of  congress,  an  equality 
of  suffrage  does  not  destroy  the  inequality  of  importance  in  the 
several  members.  No  one  will  deny  that  Virginia  and  Massa 
chusetts  have  more  weight  and  influence,  both  within  and  without 
congress,  than  Delaware  or  Rhode  Island.  Under  a  system  which 
would  operate  in  many  essential  points  without  the  intervention  of 
the  state  legislatures,  the  case  would  be  materially  altered.  A 
vote  in  the  national  councils  from  Delaware  would  then  have  the 
same  effect  and  value  as  one  from  the  largest  state  in  the  Union. 
I  am  ready  to  believe  that  such  a  change  will  not  be  attended  with 
much  difficulty  •  a  majority  of  the  states,  and  those  of  the  greatest 


370  APPENDIX. 

influence,  will  regard  it  as  favorable  to  them.  To  the  northern 
states  it  will  be  recommended  by  their  present  populousness  ;  to  the 
southern,  by  their  expected  advantage  in  this  respect.  The  less 
states  must  in  every  event  yield  to  the  predominant  will.  But  the 
consideration  which  particularly  urges  a  change  in  the  representa 
tion,  is,  that  it  will  obviate  the  principal  objections  of  the  larger 
states  to  the  necessary  concessions  of  power. 

"  I  would  propose  next,  that  in  addition  to  the  present  federal 
powers,  the  national  government  should  be  armed  with  positive 
and  complete  authority  in  all  cases  which  require  uniformity  ;  such 
as  the  regulation  of  trade,  including  ihr  right  of  taxing  both  ex 
ports  and  imports,  the  fixing  the  terms  and  forms  of  naturaliza 
tion,  &c. 

"  Over  and  above  this  positive  power,  a  negative  in  all  casts  what 
soever  on  the  legislative  acts  of  the  states,  as  heretofore  exercised  by  the 
kingly  prerogative,  appears  to  me  to  be  absolutely  necessary,  and  to  be 
the  least  possible  encroachment  on  the  state  jurisdictions.  "With 
out  this  defensive  power,  every  positive  power  that  can  be  given 
on  paper  will  be  evaded  and  defeated.  The  states  will  continue  to 
invade  the  national  jurisdiction,  to  violate  treaties  and  the  law  of 
nations,  and  to  harass  each  other  with  rival  and  spiteful  measures 
dictated  by  mistaken  views  of  interest.  Another  happy  effect  of 
this  prerogative  would  be  its  control  over  the  internal  vicissitudes 
of  state  policy,  and  the  aggressions  of  interested  majorities  on  the 
rights  of  minorities  and  of  individuals.  The  great  desideratum, 
which  has  not  yet  been  found  for  republican  governments,  seems  to 
be  some  disinterested  and  dispassionate  umpire  in  disputes  between 
different  passions  and  interests  in  the  states.  The  majority,  who 
alone  have  the  right  of  decision,  have  freqnei  tly  an  interest,  real 
or  supposed,  in  abusing  it.  In  monarchies,  the  sovereign  is  more 
neutral  to  the  interests  aad  views  of  different  parties  ;  but  unfortu 
nately  he  too  often  forms  interests  of  his  own,  repugnant  to  those  of 
the  whole.  Might  not  the  national  prerogative  here  suggested  be 
found  sufficiently  disinterested  for  the  decision  of  local  questions  of 
policy,  whilst  it  would  itself  be  sufficiently  restrained  from  the  pur 
suit  of  interests  adverse  to  those  of  the  whole  society  ?  There  has 
not  been  any  moment  since  the  peace,  at  which  the  representatives 
of  the  Union  would  have  given  an  assent  to  paper  money  or  any 
other  measure  of  a  kindred  nature. 

The  national  supremacy  ought  also  to  be  extended,  as  I  conceive, 


APPENDIX.  371 

to  the  judiciary  departments.  If  those  who  are  to  expound  and 
apply  the  laws,  are  connected  by  their  interests  and  their  oaths  with 
the  particular  states  wholly,  and  not  with  the  Union,  the  participa 
tion  of  the  Union  in  the  making  of  the  laws  may  be  possibly  ren 
dered  unavailing."—  Washington's  Correspondence,  by  Sparks,  9th 
Volume,  (Appendix.) 


books  are 


2lA-50m-4  '60 
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YB  37741 


